Silver Fire
by Lazerkat
Summary: There are many kinds of strength, as any warrior will tell you. The sweeping strength of a mighty storm. The silent strength of a diplomatic leader. The concentrated strength of a small flame. When Silverkit and Flamekit become the newest additions to ThunderClan, the medicine cat recieves an omen. An old enemy will return for revenge, and only silver fire can save us. LAST CHAP UP
1. Prologue

**Okay, I have a bit of explaining to do. When returning to write the next chapter, I first decided to read through what I had written so far so that I could flow on from there. I was horrified by my writing. Silverkit is a Mary Sue, Jayfeather is OOC, there were typos everywhere and in some cases there wasn't any proper paragraph spacing.**

**I am so very sorry. Before I continue, I am going to actually fix this story. I'm not even sure what I did the last time I tried editing this because it basically didn't change at all. This time will be different (hopefully). If you see any typos, ****_please _****do not hesitate to point them out. I am aware that that the whole kind of plot early on is a horrible piece of mousedung and the writing is clichè but I don't have the time to completely re-write the story. I will edit this to the best if my ability, however, and maybe people will find this story half decent. **

_Jayfeather jerked awake. Bright sunlight filled the _medicine cat den. He was surprised by the strong kit-scent coming from his back, where Jayfeather felt four paws digging into his skin. The kit had been prodding him with one tiny paw, but had stopped when Jayfeather woke. He broke into a low growl, suddenly remembering what he had promised to do the previous day. Lionblaze and Cinderheart had insisted on some 'family bonding time', before six-moon-old Silverkit and Flamekit became apprentices. Reluctantly, he had agreed, and it seemed that his niece had not forgotten this.

"Jayfeather, come and play with Flamekit and I!" she mewed excitedly. "We're going to play badger attack." The silver-grey she-kit was practically fizzing with energy.

"Why can't you get Lionblaze or Cinderheart to play with you?" Jayfeather mumbled irritatedly.

"Lionblaze is patrolling and Cinderheart said that you agreed to play with us while she has a rest," Silverkit frowned. "Don't you remember?" _Of course I remembered. I just wish that you hadn't._

"Fine," sighed Jayfeather, then sat up after Silverkit had slithered off his back with a soft _plop_. He followed the kit out of his den and into the main part of camp.

As he stepped into the clearing, Jayfeather scented Briarlight dragging herself towards him from the direction of the elders den. Briarlight had been crippled when a tree fell onto the camp. Now her hind legs were useless, forcing Briarlight to drag herself around with her forepaws. She was still a valued cat of ThunderClan though, and helped in the medicine cat den when she could. By now Briarlight was in front of Jayfeather. The strong scent of herbs came off her pelt in waves, attacking the medicine cat's senses.

"Jayfeather, we're running out of coltsfoot and Purdy's breathing is playing up again," she told him. "Can you go and get some more in case we have to use all that's left?"

Jayfeather perked up slightly. He didn't really want to have to play with the two hyper kits, even if they were his niece and nephew.

"That's fine, but you have to find someone to play with the kits. I was drafted as kit-sitter," Jayfeather drawled.

Just then, Jayfeather heard Silverkit and her brother come scampering up to him. Silverkit suddenly stumbled into Flamekit and they both fell to the ground. Jayfeather winced at the sound of their landing, wondering if they had hurt themselves. Evidently, they hadn't, as the kits didn't stay on the ground for long and picked themselves up almost as soon as they had fallen down.

"Come _on_, Jayfeather!" urged Flamekit, who was nosing Jayfeather's front left paw. "Let's go play!"

"I can't," the medicine cat repied flatly. "I have some medicine cat stuff to do." Almost in unison, he heard the kits' tiny tails droop onto the ground with a muffled _thud._

"But who's going to play with us?" Silverkit wailed.

"I'll go get Dustpelt," Briarlight chirped, dragging herself away. A minute later, she returned with the brown elder in tow. All of a sudden Silverkit and Flamekit were excited again. The kits squealed and leapt onto Dustpelt's back, making the tom stumble.

"Don't worry Jayfeather, I'll keep these two out of trouble," reassured Dustpelt. Jayfeather nodded and turned to pad over to the camp's exit. A hunting patrol had just returned, and laden with prey, from the scent of them. In the small mob Jayfeather scented his brother, Lionblaze. The two littermates greeted each other and went on their way. Within a few moments Jayfeather was through the camp walls and surrounded by the comforting silence of the ThunderClan forest. The forest was cool and shady as Jayfeather headed in the direction of the place where he knew a clump of coltsfoot grew.

Once there the medicine cat lifted his head and parted his jaws to scent the air. Suddenly, within a heartbeat, light flooded into Jayfeather's eyes and he found that he could see. Jayfeather bristled as he looked around at the lush forest, ready to flee if an enemy attacked. The grey tom could normally only see in dreams, so he crouched in anticipation and waited for something to happen.

After a few moments, the green forest dissolved around him and in its place he saw the camp. It was covered in fighting, screeching cats of all different colours and scents. Cats from all four Clans were fighting against ragged, scarred, transparent cats. Panic rose in Jayfeather as he recognised this battle. This was a vision of just part of the biggest battle the Clans had ever fought, against the Dark Forest when they broke through to the Clan world. Brave cats had been lost in that battle from every Clan, even StarClan. A horrible thought struck Jayfeather; _are the Dark Forest going to attack again? _Without any warning, the Dark Forest cats were on fire. Jayfeather instinctively recoiled. The fire was obviously unnatural, as it was coloured silver. Before Jayfeather's brain could properly process what was happening, darkness swallowed everything and he was blind once more. _Something_ _is_ _going_ _to_ _happen_ _to_ _ThunderClan_, Jayfeather thought, a sense of foreboding creeping through him, _something_ _bad_.


	2. Chapter one

Silverkit squealed and leapt up onto Dustpelt's back. As her brother did the same, the elder became unbalanced and his tail started waving around wildly. Alas, it wasn't enough to stop the momentum that Flamekit had created and he toppled over unceremoniously.

"Don't worry Jayfeather, I'll keep these two out of trouble," Dustpelt weakly reassured the medicine cat.

Silverkit let out a mrrow of laughter and stood triumphantly on top of Dustpelt, Flamekit at her side. The growing bubble of excitement in her chest soon outweighed the disappointment of her uncle's busyness.

"Take that, badger!" Flamekit yowled down at the dusky-coloured cat beneath his paws.

"So I'm a badger now, am I?" inquired Dustpelt, amusement tinging his tone. Silverkit pushed her paw against his face.

"Silence! Badgers can't talk," she told the elder. "They growl." The brown tom let out a small smile as he started to growl at his attackers.

"That's better," she praised approvingly. Suddenly, Silverkit spotted Lionblaze and the his patrol came into the camp, each member carrying a piece of prey. The silver she-kit jumped off Dustpelt and ran clumsily over to her father. Flamekit was not far behind. By the time they reached the muscular warrior, he was sifting through the fresh-kill pile.

Lionblaze looked up and started purring when he saw his kits running to greet him.

"Lionblaze!" Silverkit yowled, jumping onto the golden warrior's back and clinging on with her needle-sharp claws. Lionblaze shook himself in a gentle attempt to get the kit off. Quickly, the older cat evidently realised that he would not be able to shake his daughter off without hurting her.

"Hello Silverkit. Can you get off my back now?" the warrior politely meowed. Silverkit cheekily shook her head and clung on tighter. She shifted her position so that she was now sitting on her father. She closed her eyes, letting herself imagine for a moment that she was sitting on the Highledge as Silverstar.

"I'm going to sit on you forever!" Silverkit declared, puffing out her chest and lifting her chin. Dustpelt, who was watching, snorted with amusement. Silverkit glared at the dusky brown elder, but Dustpelt just stared back, eyes sparkling with laughter.

"Okay, I give up," meowed Lionblaze, his shoulders sagging. Silverkit relaxed, unhooking her claws from her father's pelt. Suddenly, Lionblaze reared up on his hind legs so that Silverkit slid off his back. _Not fair!_ Silverkit thought indignantly as she sat on the ground and frowned up at the golden tabby. Seeing her sullen expression, Lionblaze bent down to touch his nose to his daughter's. "Why don't you go say hello to Cinderheart?" he suggested, gesturing his his ears to the nursery.

Silverkit turned around to see that her mother was stumbling outside, eyes still dull with sleep. For some reason, she also seemed somewhat irritated. The she-kit trotted towards the gray queen, meeting her in the middle.

"What's bothering you?" Lionblaze asked, laying his tail across her shoulders.

"Can't get a wink of sleep with the noise of the birds outside," she explained, padding forward to touch noses with Silverkit and Flamekit. As Silverkit greeted her mother, her thoughts drifted to Jayfeather._ I wonder where he is . . . _ Looking around, Silverkit saw that Leafpool was at the fresh-kill pile, dragging out a small rabbit. She held back just long enough to hear Lionblaze and Cinderheart meowed a quick goodbye, and heard them pad off together. Abandoning her brother, Silverkit bounded over to Leafpool, stopping barely a mouse-length from the medicine cat's white paws.

"Have you seen Jayfeather?" Silverkit demanded. Leafpool nodded.

"You just missed him. Jayfeather went straight to Bramblestar's den after he got back."

Silverkit nodded disappointedly. "Tell him that I want to play if you see him."

Leafpool purred, "I will."

Just then, Bramblestar himself came out of the shadowy entrance to his den and padded out onto the Highledge. His amber gaze swept the camp, narrowing on something off into the distance. Jayfeather and Squirrelflight, the deputy, followed their leader out and jumped down to the ground. Silverkit, unsettled by Bramblestar, ran over to Jayfeather. His face was expressionless as he stalked over to his den.

"You're back!" mewed Silverkit, forcing a purr. "Can you play now?" Jayfeather turned his head in the direction of his niece, despite the fact that he couldn't see her.

"Uh . . . no, sorry," he meowed, obviously distracted. "Tonight is half-moon. I need to rest before I go to meet the others at the Moonpool." Every half-moon the medicine cats and their apprentices all meet at the Moonpool, a place owned by none of the four Clans. There they shared tounges with StarClan, the Clan of the warrior ancestors. At least, that was what she remembered hearing from Sandstorm. _Maybe he can play tomorrow, _Silverkit thought, trying to cheer herself up. Suddenly, she felt a yawn coming on.

Silverkit looked up at the sky and saw that it was just past sunhigh. _Whoops. I think I was supposed to find Cinderheart._ Silverkit suddenly felt a fluffy tail curl around her tiny body. When she looked up, the she-kit was glad to see her mother. Cinderheart pulled herself closer to her kit, so much so that Silverkit was nearly buried in grey, milk-scented fur. She snuggled deeper into her mother's warm pelt and let out her yawn.

"I think that it's time to go back to the nursery for a nap." Cinderheart said softly, licking her kit's head. Silverkit didn't resist when she was picked up by the scruff and carried to her nest. When the silver she-kit was gently placed in the cozy moss with Cinderheart curled around her, Silverkit became vaguely aware that Flamekit was already in the nest. Remembering stories about how warriors could stay up all night, she jolted upright.

"I'm not tired," Silverkit protested, trying to climb out of the nest.

"Goodnight, my little warrior," Cinderheart replied, pulling her close again with her tail. The silver kit sighed and reluctantly settled down for the enevitable nap. _One day I'm going to be the best warrior ThunderClan has ever seen. Then I _will_ be able to stay up for my vigil._


	3. Chapter two

**Scene two, take two! Thanks to Moonstorm12, who is now beta-ing this!**

When Flamekit woke up it was dawn. His sister Silverkit was still asleep. Upon a first glance, it would seem that Flamekit's mother Cinderheart was asleep too. But when she felt the flame-coloured tom stir Cinderheart opened one eye. Flamekit wriggled closer to the grey queen.

"Stop wriggling, or you will wake Silverkit," whispered Cinderheart. " Why don't you go outside until your sister can join you? Try not to get too dirty though, it's your apprentice ceremony today!" she added. Flamekit felt a rush of anticipation and excitement. Today was the day that he would start his training to be a warrior. _What will my warrior name be? _Flamekit wondered. _Flamefur? Flameclaw? I can't wait to be a real warrior!_ Cinderheart nosed her daydreaming kit out of the nest. Flamekit scampered out of the nursery and into the sandy clearing that was the middle of the camp.

The dawn patrol was headed towards the tunnel leading out into the forest. Squirrelflight was leading with Cloudtail, Bumblestipe and Poppyfrost following her. Flamekit bounded up to the warriors.

"It's my apprentice ceremony today!" he mewed proudly, puffing out his chest.

"It sure is, Flamekit," said Squirrelflight. "Have you got any idea of who your mentor might be?" The fire-orange tom tilted his head to the left. Flamekit hadn't thought about that. He shook his head. There was a short silence as the small tom was lost in his thoughts.

"I have no idea. I'd rather wait anyway, and find out later," said Flamekit eventually. "Do you know who it will be?" he asked Squirrelflight.

"Yes," the deputy told Flamekit. "Bramblestar asked for my opinion yesterday. Last night he gave me his decision." Flamekit felt a spark of curiosity. He wanted to know who his mentor would be. But at the same time Flamekit also didn't want to know and ruin the surprise. Squirrelflight probably wouldn't tell me anyway, he decided. The orange tabby tom sat and watched as the patrol walked in single file out of camp. Poppyfrost paused in front of Flamekit and touched noses with him.

"I'm sure you will make a great apprentice. Good luck for later," she meowed. Flamekit thanked Poppyfrost and watched as the tortoiseshell warrior ran to catch up with the others. Very soon Flamekit was alone in the middle of camp. The tom's belly rumbled and he felt a pang of hunger. Flamekit glanced at the fresh-kill pile. There was only a mouse and a shrew left. The kit padded over and took the mouse in his jaws.

Flamekit crouched down and bit into the prey. It wasn't warm anymore, as it was caught yesterday morning but to the little cat eating in the peace of the morning, the mouse tasted delicious. Flamekit had been allowed to eat prey for a moon and a half. He was used to the flavour but it was still exciting to bite into the soft flesh and chew the meat. Milk seemed boring now compared to eating real food. Flamekit suddenly had a thought. This might be my last meal as a kit. The next time I eat I might be Flamepaw. This thought excited Flamekit and he couldn't stop himself from bouncing up and down, purring loudly.

"Hello Flamekit. Are you cold?" mewed Bramblestar from behind, making Flamekit jump in surprise. The kit's fur burned with embarrassment.

"Uh, no Bramblestar," Flamekit mewed sheepishly. "I'm just excited about today, you know with my ceremony and all." The brown tabby nodded his strong head. Flamekit went back to his meal, partly so that he couldn't embarrass himself further as well as hunger.

"I do know," Bramblestar replied. " I was very excited when the day I became an apprentice too. Tawnypelt was as well." he added wistfully, the ThunderClan leader's amber eyes full of regret.

Flamekit had heard about Bramblestar's sister, who left shortly after becoming an apprentice to join ShadowClan. Tawnypelt left to be with her father Tigerstar, the reason being that she didn't feel welcome in ThunderClan. Many cats did not trust Bramblestar and Tawnypelt because their father was one of the most evil cats to ever live, although at the time only ThunderClan knew that Tigerstar was bad. Bramblestar was also half-brother to the RiverClan medicine cat, Mothwing. It was pretty unusual to have kin in two Clans other than your own.

A rustle from the warriors den got Flamekit's attention. He snapped his head around to look at what made the sound. Dovewing and Bumblestripe walked out of the den side-by-side, tails entwined. Will I ever have a mate? Flamekit wondered. The orange tom watched the two love-birds settle down at the edge of the clearing and start sharing tounges.

"It won't be long before we have more kits," remarked Bramblestar, who was also watching the warriors. Flamekit just nodded. "Now that you and your sister are going to be apprenticed, I think that Daisy might get a bit bored with no one to look after." Flamekit nodded again. Just then a flash of silver at the edge of the kit's vision told him that Silverkit had woken. She was bounding over to greet her brother.

"Hey Flamekit! How long have you been up? Are you excited for the apprentice ceremony? Who do you think our mentors might be?" Silverkit was obviously overexcited and bouncing up and down with energy. Bramblestar waved his tail good-bye and went to join some other warriors. Flamekit shrugged at Silverkit.

"I dunno. Do you wanna play a game?" mewed the tom. His sister's blue eyes lit up in excitement. Silverkit swiped playfully, albeit not gently, at her brother's muzzle with claws sheathed. She then turned around and bolted off, hindpaws kicking up sand as she went. Flamekit squeaked in surprise, ignoring his aching nose.

"Can't catch me!" Silverkit teased, head twisted backwards to throw her words over a shoulder. Flamekit took off after her as fast as his short legs would carry him.

"Oh yes I can!" panted the orange kit as he struggled to catch up to Silverkit. The silver she-kit was faster than Flamekit, so plus a head start her brother had no hope of catching Silverkit. Despite that fact, the two littermates played and chased until they were both panting and gasping for breath. Flamekit lied down next to Silverkit and looked up at the sky. Although I want to be an apprentice, it's times like these that make me love being a kit, he thought. Little did the orange cat know that his mother had just come out of the nursery and was now behind them.

"What happened to you two?" exclaimed Cinderheart, who was staring, horrified, at her kit's dirty and ruffled pelts. She had always been a bit of a neat freak, something that neither of her kits had understood. Immediately, the wide-eyed queen started roughly washing Silverkit's head.

"Dove...wing!" called Cinderheart in-between licks. "I need...your...help!" The pale grey she-cat quickly came padding over.

"What do you nee-" Dovewing started to say but broke off when she saw the kits. "Oh."

Suddenly Flamekit felt his fur being smoothed and cleaned by a strong tounge as Dovewing washed him. The tiny tom tried to squirm away but the she-cat just held him down with one grey paw. It took several minutes to clean the kits, even with both she-cats working hard. Finally, Flamekit was released. As he glanced down at his belly, Flamekit saw that his fur was perfectly clean and shiny. He decided that he liked it better that way. Cinderheart and Dovewing were sitting together admiring the kits, now nice and neat. Then Flamekit saw his mother narrow her eyes.

"You better not mess yourselves up again before your ceremony," she told them sternly.

"We won't Cinderheart," her kits promised. Just then Bramblestar jumped up onto the Highledge and yowled the summoning words,

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Cats swarmed from their dens and formed a crowd in the large clearing. Flamekit, Silverkit, Cinderheart and Dovewing followed. Silverkit let out a squeal of excitement. Cinderheart silenced her with a glare.

"Today we have two kits who are going to be apprenticed. Silverkit, step forward." said Bramblestar, gesturing with his tail. The crowd parted to let the silver-grey she-cat through. Silverkit walked proudly down towards her leader and stopped when her Clanmates were behind her and only the Highledge parted the she-cat from Bramblestar.

"Silverkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Silverpaw," meowed the ThunderClan leader. Silverpaw's blue eyes sparkled. "Your mentor will be Ivypool. I hope Ivypool will pass down everything she knows to you." Bramblestar turned to the silver-and-white she-cat, who stepped forward. "Ivypool, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Cinderheart and you have shown yourself to be courageous and loyal. You will be the mentor of Silverpaw and I expect you to pass on all you know to her." Ivypool took a step towards her new apprentice and extended her nose to Silverpaw. Silverpaw also stretched her head closer to her mentor and the two she-cats touched noses. Then mentor and apprentice moved left so that Flamekit had room for his ceremony.

"Flamekit, step forward," purred Bramblestar. The fire-coloured tom walked slowly down the path that had been made by his Clanmates. Flamekit tried to make himself look as dignified as possible. And failed, of course, because he wasn't exactly comfortable under the stares of his Clanmates. Very soon he was in front of his leader.

"Flamekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is also time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Flamepaw," said Bramblestar. "Your mentor will be Cloudtail. I hope Cloudtail will pass down everything she knows to you," Cloudtail had already come forward and was ready when Bramblestar continued. "Cloudtail, you are ready to take on another apprentice. You have received excellent training from Firestar and have shown yourself to be independent and courageous. You will be the mentor of Flamepaw and I expect you to pass on all you know to him." The two toms also shuffled closer to each other so that they could touch noses. As Flamepaw felt his nose meet his new mentor's he got a sense that this would be fun having Cloudtail teaching him. The orange apprentice broke into a purr.

"I didn't think that I would have another apprentice before I went to join the elders," murmered Cloudtail. "But I must admit I would rather have you as my apprentice than your sister." added the white tom, who also started purring. Then the whole Clan started to congratulate the new apprentices.

"Good luck Silverpaw!"

"Congratulations Flamepaw!"

"I am so proud of you two!" Flamepaw heard his mother call. He craned his neck to see her through the sea of cats, but Flamepaw was too short to see much. Then he finally saw a flash of grey, and Cinderheart was at his side. The orange tom nuzzled into his mother's belly fur with his head. Screw anyone who said that he was too old to do that. It seemed like forever until the crowd of cats melted away and everyone settled down for the afternoon.

"Well, I guess I should go and see if my nest is still in the warrior's den." meowed Cinderheart as she leaned backwards so that her son was no longer on her chest. Flamepaw sat up straight and watched his mother pad off slowly to her den. After she had disappeared, a thought occured to Flamepaw. If Cinderheart was no longer sleeping in the nursery, then neither would he. From now on, Flamepaw would sleep in the apprentices den. Until he was a warrior, that was. I think that maybe I should be making a nest. As he thought this Flamepaw saw Silverpaw walking sideways toward him. It looked rather hilarious. Cloudtail was also walking up to him, but stopped and snorted when he saw the silver-grey she-cat.

"What in StarClan are you doing Silverpaw?" asked the fluffy white warrior. "You look like a . . . . Oh, for once I don't know what you look like. But whatever you are, you're not a cat." Silverpaw stopped and frowned at Cloudtail. This turned into a defiant stare as she started her little dance again. Cloudtail sighed and rolled his eyes. Flamepaw gave his mentor a helpless look and shrugged. He then followed his sister to the apprentice den. As Flamepaw entered the tunnel, shadows engulfed him and soon no one could see the bright-coloured tom.


	4. Chapter three

**Thanks so much for all of the reviews, people! They really encourgage me!**

_Ivypool stood over her sleeping apprentice and _poked her in the side with one paw.

"Get up."

"But I'm still sleeping!" mumbled Silverpaw as she put one paw on her ear in an attempt to block out her mentor.

"Sure you are," said Ivypool. "Oh well, I guess you won't be coming to your first hunting session this morning," the silver-and-white warrior sighed with fake disappointment.

Silverpaw pricked her ear at this, tempted to get up. It only lasted for a second though, and the silver apprentice quickly went back to her sleeping act.

"I was going to teach you all of these special techniques," Ivypool went on. "But now, maybe I should teach them to Flamepaw instead." Silverpaw leapt up, unable to resist the bait any longer.

"I'm coming!" she declared, with a majestic swish of the tail to emphasise. Silverpaw sashayed out of the apprentice's den, head held high.

Once she had entered the clearing that was the main part of the ThunderClan camp, Silverpaw looked around for her fiery-furred brother, Flamepaw. _I can't believe that she was thinking about trying to teach _him_ special hunting stuff without me! _Silverpaw thought furiously. Finally she spotted 'him', over by the fresh-kill pile with his mentor Cloudtail.

Silverpaw started of towards the two toms with her tail in the air, kinked. She tried to make herself look as dignified and confident as possible, and as Silverpaw neared her brother and his mentor, she could hear what they were talking about.

"-oday we are going out to learn how to hunt with your sister," Cloudtail was saying to his apprentice. Silverpaw stopped in front of the pair and sat down next to Cloudtail, making a big fuss about curling her perfect tail over her snow-white paws.

"Morning Cloudtail!" she cheerily greeted the white warrior. "Flamepaw," Silverpaw nodded to her brother, who muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, 'good morning to you too'.

"Aren't you just _soo _excited about our first proper hunting lesson, dear brother?" asked Silverpaw in her best little-miss-innocent voice. Flamepaw scowled.

"Aren't you just _soo _excited?" he mimicked. Well then. _Someone_ was in a bad mood today.

Cloudtail, meanwhile, was watching all of this with an understanding smirk.

"If you two are quite done," he interrupted, "we have a hunting lesson to get to."

"But if you keep behaving like this," added Ivypool, who had come out from the apprentice's den and was now standing behind the two apprentices, "I'm sure that Sandstorm has some ticks for you to take care of." _Nu-uh, no thanks! _Silverpaw thought, frowning.

Flamepaw whirled around and snapped to attention at this, wide-eyed.

"Good. Now, let's go," nodded Cloudtail, who started off toward the tunnel in the thorn barrier.

Hostility forgotten, Silverpaw and Flamepaw ran side-by-side together after Cloudtail, with Ivypool left to bring up the rear. The group were soon out of sight and in the shady green forest.

Silverpaw bounded along behind her brother's mentor, going over the hunting tips that Amberpaw had given her last night. _Watch out for twigs, leaves or anything else that could make a noise when you step on them, _Silverkit remembered. Suddenly, the scent of mouse flooded her senses and everyone froze.

"Silverpaw," hissed Ivypool, nodding her head in the direction of the prey.

Silverpaw nodded back at her mentor and dropped into an imitation of the hunter's crouch. She then proceded to crawl through the undergrowth. Through the ferns, the silver-and-white she-cat could see her target. A nice, plump brown mouse. It was nibbling on a nut, back towards it's hunter. _This is my chance, _Silverpaw thought. She stalked forward a few steps more and then leapt. She landed squarely on the mouse, effectively squishing it before she broke it's neck. _Well, that's one way to do it, _the apprentice thought, shrugging to herself as she picked up her first catch. Silverpaw suddenly heard loud purring from behind her. She turned around slowly to see Ivypool, who was beaming at her apprentice, chest puffed out.

"You're a natural!" the warrior came out next, his expression one of pure surprise.

"Anyone would think you've been training for at least a moon or two," shock clear in the white tom's voice. Flamepaw appeared next to his mentor, smiling encouragingly. _He's a good brother, _Silverpaw realised. _I made a catch in my first go and he's not even jealous. Well, at least he doesn't _look_ jealous... _

A small rustle in a nearby bush caught everyone's attention. This time Flamepaw went after it. Silverpaw walked over to watch, relaxed now that she had her mouse. A squirrel was standing in a small clearing, foraging for food. _Crack. _That was the sound of Silverpaw stepping on a twig. Alerted, the squirrel jerked it's head up and scampered off. Flamepaw shot out from his hiding place and took off after his prey. A few seconds later a triumphant meow indicated that Flaneoaw had either caught or cornered his prey. Then the orange apprentice himself came out from the undergrowth, the squirrel limp in his jaws. _How did he manage _that_? _

"How'd you out run a squirrel with a head start?" asked Cloudtail. Flamepaw grinned meekly.

"I didn't," he said, dropping the prey for the moment. "It ran into a tree." A stunned silence fell over the ThunderClan cats as they pondered this. Finally, Silverpaw's mentor spoke.

"Wow," Ivypool remarked. Cloudtail snorted.

"Even I didn't know squirrels could be so dumb," he said. Silverpaw just stared at her brother, then at the squirrel.

"So . . ." Flamepaw trailed, sounding slightly awkward, "what are we going to do now?"

Cloudtail answered, "Now, I'm going to teach you two how to do a proper hunter's crouch and stalk. Later, if we have time, we'll do some more hunting." Ivypool nodded, but flicked her tail.

"If you don't mind, though, I think that we should do it with our own apprentices. These two have basically spent every minute of their lives together, and need to get used to training apart. Come on Silverpaw," she said, turning to leave the area. Her apprentice sighed. _Now comes the part where we spend the entire morning learning how to crouch properly. Joy._

oOo

Everyone was already inside when the camp came into Silverpaw's view. The apprentice picked up her pace at this and soon was inside. The first thing that Silverpaw noticed was that almost all of the warriors were lounging about, sharing tounges and gossiping, Cloudtail included. Another thing was that Dovewing and Bumblestripe weren't in sight. Silverpaw walked over to the fresh-kill pile and deposited her mouse, along with a vole that she had just caught. As Silverpaw turned around, she heard excited murmurs sprout among her Clanmates. A quick look around uncovered the reason.

Dovewing and Bumblestripe were standing outside the medicine cat den, both looking very excited. And in love. Like the gazing-into-each-other's-eyes-like-nothing-else-exists thing. Egh. Silverpaw guessed that they were expecting kits. This was confirmed when the pair headed toward the nursery.

"Hey, Silverpaw!" called Bumblestripe. "Can you go and fetch some moss?" Silverpaw nodded and turned to head back out, only to realise that she didn't know where moss grew. After a scan of the clearing, the silver apprentice spotted Amberpaw and her siblings, Dewpaw and Snowpaw.

Silverpaw trotted over to Amberpaw and asked her if she could come with her. The orange-and-white she-cat agreed and they both walked over to the entrance. They didn't get a chance to leave, however, before a loud yowl cut through the air.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" the two apprentices turned to see Bramblestar on his perch above the rest of ThunderClan. Silverpaw walked over to join the crowd that was forming below their leader. Amberpaw came and sat next to her, eyes shining. _Oh! _Silverpaw realised as she watched her fellow apprentice groom herself. _Amberpaw is having her ceremony! _ Everyone fell silent and waited for Bramblestar to speak. The brown tabby leapt down from his ledge and stood in front of the ThunderClan cats.

"Today we have three apprentices who are ready to become warriors," he began. "Amberpaw, Dewpaw and Snowpaw, come forward." The three littermates came to stand together in front of their leader. "I, Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." Cloudtail and Brightheart were sitting side-by-side at the edge of the mob, watching their kits.

"Amberpaw, Snowpaw and Dewpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" The trio quivered with excitement and answered.

"I do," Amberpaw's voice rang out loud and clear.

"Yes," Snowpaw said, sounding as if he still couldn't believe what was happening.

"I do," said Dewpaw, quieter than the rest.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names," Bramblestar took a deep breath before continuing. "Amberpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Amberspots. StarClan honours your courage and skill, and we welcome you to ThunderClan as a full warrior." The leader rested his chin on Amberspots' head and she licked his shoulder.

Then Bramblestar turned to face the other two. "Dewpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Dewheart. StarClan honours your intelligence and kindness and we welcome you as a full warrior." Again Bramblestar rested his chin on the new warrior's head and Dewheart licked his shoulder. Finally the ThunderClan leader turned to Snowpaw. The white tom quivered slightly as the brown tabby continued. "Snowpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Snowfire. StarClan honours your enthusiasm and skill in battle and we welcome you as a full ThunderClan warrior."

"Amberspots! Snowfire! Dewheart!" The whole Clan, Silverpaw included, started cheering and congratulating the new warriors. Bramblestar raised his voice so that the cats could hear him over the noise and said, "All three of you must sit vigil at the camp entrance tonight." Then the chanting overtook and Bramblestar could no longer be heard. Silverpaw kept her eyes on the new warriors, who were surrounded by cats now. _That will be me one day! _The silver apprentice walked over to the fresh-kill pile and picked out a thrush. As she did so, Silverpaw noticed that her mouse was gone. The she-cat padded over to a nice quiet spot at the edge of the clearing and and started to eat.

"Silverpaw, after you finish, we're going out for another lesson. I'm going to teach you how to collect moss and replace bedding!"

_Yeah, no thanks, _Silverpaw thought, glaring at her mentor.


	5. Chapter four

**Thanks so so much for the reviews, people! They really encourage me :3**

_Flamepaw woke to the sound of someone talking outside. His mother had always told him _that he had good hearing. The flame-coloured tom angled his ears towards the sound and recognised Squirrelflight's voice, coming from the direction of the medicine cat den. Flamepaw wasn't usually one to spy, but this sounded important. The tom opened his eyes and silently moved to the entrance of the den. From here he could clearly hear what the deputy was saying.

"I don't see why you don't just tell them," Squirrelflight was arguing with someone. "If we are right then it's better to let them know what's happening as soon as possible." Flamepaw heard someone sigh.

"_If _we are right," the other cat said and Flamepaw heard that it was Jayfeather. "Remember what happened with Hollyleaf?" he said, referring to his sister who died in the battle with the Drak Forest.

"Still," Squirrelflight argued. "At least she knew what was going on. I know that they are your brother's kits but you can't protect them from destiny." Flamepaw jerked as he realised that the cats they were talking about were he and his sister!

"What if it's not their destiny?" Jayfeather sounded tired.

Flamepaw walked out into the clearing. Squirrelflight was standing in front of the medicine cat den, hackles up, back to the orange apprentice. Jayfeather was facing Flamepaw, and the tom could barely make out his features as the medicine cat apprentice was crouched in the shadows. Suddenly Jayfeather lifted his head and hissed at Squirrelflight. He then looked straight at the apprentice, even though he was blind. Squirrelflight turned to look too and then looked back at Jayfeather, silently challenging him to explain everything to his nephew.

Flamepaw lifted his chin and stammered, "I-I-I heard you talking. I want to know what's going on." Squirrelflight shot Jayfeather an I-told-you-so glare and then looked back at Flamepaw. The medicine cat apprentice just hung his head.

"I didn't want to tell you," he started hesitantly, "but the day before you became an apprentice I received an omen from StarClan." Flamepaw nodded and thought, _So we're part of some kind of new prophecy? _Then Jayfeather continued. "I saw a vision of the battle with the Dark Forest. Cinderheart ever told you about that one?" Flamepaw nodded again. Sandstorm had actually told him the story, but that didn't matter. "Well, just as the Dark Forest were winning, silver fire destroyed them and ThunderClan won."

"So you think that Silverpaw and I are the silver fire?" Flamepaw asked, turning this new information over in his head. Squirrelflight nodded. Then a thought struck him. "So, are the Dark Forest going to attack again? But..."

"That's what doesn't make sense," Jayfeather finished. "The Dark Forest attack only happened a few seasons ago."

"Uh, well I was going to say that a lot of cats would die," corrected Flamepaw. Then he shrugged. "But I guess it has only been a few seasons. And I think that Silverpaw deserves to know too." Jayfeather dipped his head.

"Very well. You should get some sleep now."

Flamepaw turned and headed back to the apprentice's den. He heard Squirrelflight pad back to the warriors den. When the apprentice looked back over his shoulder he saw that Jayfeather had already disappeared into his den again. Flamepaw went back on his way and had to tred carefully as to not step on something and not wake his sister. Then he curled up in his nest and closed his eyes. But Flamepaw soon found that his head was too full of thoughts to sleep. After what seemed like moons, Silverpaw started to stir and the first rays of dawn came in through the entrance.

"Hey Flamepaw," she whispered, putting her perfect silver-and-white head onto her paws. Flamepaw whispered back, "Something happened a while ago, while you were still sleeping." Silverpaw seemed get that this was very important and nodded at her brother to go on. "Okay, well, basically we're part of a new prophecy." Silverpaw's ice-blue eyes widened. "Jayfeather had this omen where he saw the battle with the Dark Forest and then silver fire burned the bad cats."

"Wow," said Silverpaw. "Squirrelflight and Bramblestar know already right? And it happened the day before we became apprentices right?" Flamepaw nodded with surprise.

"How do you know?"

"I saw Jayfeather and Squirrelflight come out of Bramblstar's den that day and then he was staring at me."

"Mmmhmm." Flamepaw looked thoughtful.

"Well," he said after a while, "I think that we should be getting up." Silverpaw nodded and the two littermates walked out of the apprentice's den. The dawn patrol, Lionblaze, Squirrelflight, Amberspots and Dewheart, were just leaving. Lionblaze turned for a moment and saw his kits. Silverpaw rushed over to him to say goodbye before the golden warrior left. Flamepaw followed quickly and only just managed a 'bye!".

"I see that someone has gotten up," observed a voice behind the two apprentices. Silverpaw jumped and turned to see Ivypool standing in the entrance of the warriors den. The warrior licked her front paw and stared back at her apprentice.

"What?" Ivypool asked when Silverpaw nor Flamepaw said anything. They were still thinking about the conversation Flamepaw had overheard. "Seriously!" More silence. "Guys!" she shrieked, waking up half the Clan.

"I'm not a guy," Silverpaw commented quietly for what Flamepaw thought must be the first time in her life. Ivypool rolled her eyes and stalked off to the fresh-kill pile.

"You're right," he shrugged. Silverpaw suddenly got a playful gleam in her eyes.

"Do you wanna go play a prank on Ivypool?" she asked.

"What should we do?" Flamepaw wondered out loud.

"Let's put a fire ant in her nest," suggested Silverpaw. Flamepaw nodded and Silverpaw ran off to go find an ant.

He smirked at the thought of Ivypool squirming in her nest all night and then in the morning exploding and trying to find out who did it. Just then Cloudtail padded out of the warriors den, yawning. By now most of the cats in ThunderClan were awake. Cloudtail spotted Flamepaw and headed in his direction.

"Who was shrieking before?" the warrior asked, blinking sleep away. Flamepaw flicked his tail in Ivypool's direction, who was sitting with Mousewhisker. Cloudtail sighed.

"May I ask _why _she was shrieking?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

"Umm," Flamepaw said, unable to come up with an answer. "No."

Then he turned and quickly walked away from his mentor, leaving Cloudtail standing confused. Looking around, Flamepaw saw Jayfeather talking with Briarlight by the medicine cat den. The tom decided to go talk to the medicine cat appretice about the omen. As the orange apprentice neared Jayfeather, Briarlight stopped and turned to greet Flamepaw. After she did so Jayfeather seemed to know what his nephew wanted to talk about.

"Briarlight," he said softly. "Can you please give us a minute?" Briarlight nodded and dragged herself away. Then Jayfeather turned to Flamepaw.

"I want to know what you think will happen," the warrior apprentice requested firmly.

"I..." Jayfeather seemed lost for words and stared at the ground. "Somehow I don't think that it is possible for the Dark Forest to attack us again so soon. But if it isn't the Dark Forest, then why would they be the enemy in my vision?" Jayfeather shook his head, as if the answers might fall out of his ears. Flamepaw shrugged.

"Maybe it isn't the Dark Forest," he suggested. "Maybe they represent someone or something else."

"But _what_?" Jayfeather wailed, head thrown back like a kit who had just been told that they can't play ever again. Flamepaw blinked, surprised at this reaction that seemed so unlike the Jayfeather he knew. Satisfied with the talk, Flamepaw walked off, leaving Jayfeather in his confusion and worries. The orange tom saw Silverpaw outside the apprentice's den, grinning wickedly. Flamepaw tilted his head to the side once he had joined his sister.

"Did you do it?" he asked.

"Yeah!" she squeaked, eyes wide. Flamepaw shook his head.

"Do you think she'll guess?"

"Nah, Ivypool'll think it's Dovewing." Just then Flamepaw saw Dustpelt come up behind Silverpaw.

"Ivypool will think Dovewing did what?" he asked, glancing between both littermates. Then he broke into a huge grin. "You played a prank on her, didn't you?" he realised.

"Keep it down!" Silverpaw hissed. Dustpelt just flicked his tail. His eyes gleamed with amusement.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," he said. Flamepaw knew he wouldn't. "Just tell me what you did." Silverpaw glanced at her brother, then answered.

"I might have put a fire ant in her nest." Dustpelt let out a huge _mrrow _of laughter.

"I am _definitely _not telling anyone!" Dustpelt turned back to the elders den and waved his tail goodbye. "I want to see her reaction!" Silverpaw seemed relieved that Dustpelt approved and turned to go get something to eat. Flamepaw was suddenly aware that his belly was rumbling.

He decided to go and eat something as well. The fresh-kill pile was freshly stocked. Just as he was about to go and choose a piece of prey, Cloudtail called, informing his apprentice that they were assigned to the dawn patrol the next morning.

_Early start, then._


	6. Chapter five

_Silverpaw was thinking about her prank on Ivypool when she woke _up. Did the ant bite her? Had she figured out who did it? If she had, Silverpaw would be searching the elders for ticks for the next moon! The silver she-cat tossed and turned in her nest, unable to go back to sleep, even though dawn had not broken yet. It wasn't until Flamepaw stirred slightly that Silverpaw ceased her movement. Luckily, the other apprentice went back to his steady breathing. Silverpaw turned so that she was on her belly and placed her head on her paws. Her thoughts drifted once more to Ivypool, then to the omen.

oOo

Silverpaw woke up to the light that was coming in through the entrance tunnel to the den. _I must have fallen asleep, _she thought. Turning her head, Silverpaw noticed that Flamepaw was gone. _It must be nearly sunhigh! _she realised. Last night Flamepaw had proudly told her that he was going on the dawn patrol. Then Silverpaw flicked her tail in annoyance. Why didn't the sound of Flamepaw leaving wake her? Ivypool must have gotten over the ant by now. _Hmm . . . then again, she might not have._ Silverpaw decided to get up to see. Even before she got outside, the silver apprentice could hear someone screaming.

"Who did it?!" Ivypool had obviously slept in as well and just woken up. Once outside, Silverpaw saw her mentor, furious, standing in the entrance to the warrior's den. Dustpelt was at the edge of the clearing, watching the temper tantrum and purring with amusement. Ivypool turned to Silverpaw.

"Did you see anyone put a fire ant in my nest last night?" she demanded. Silverpaw shook her head. She hadn't seen anyone do it. How can you see yourself do something?

"It was probably a warrior," she replied.

Ivypool looked thoughtful and walked off to go investigate her nest further. Then the silver apprentice realised something; she forgot to cover up her scent! Dustpelt, seeing Silverpaw's sudden alarm, came over to her.

"Did she figure it out?" he asked. When the apprentice shook her head his eyes widened. "What did you do?" Silverpaw whispered the answer into his ear, and the elder sighed.

"Rookie mistake," Dustpelt muttered as he walked off to go talk to Sandstorm.

Just then, Ivypool returned from the warriors den. She was looking confused and was shaking her head.

"No scent," the warrior told Silverpaw, frowning. Now Silverpaw frowned.

"But...how is there no scent?" she puzzled. Then it hit her. _Ivypool's my mentor! My scent will already be on her since she has spent all day yesterday with me. _Unfortunately though, Ivypool had noticed this realisation dawn on her face.

"Tell me what you know," she demanded.

"About what?" Silverpaw tried the innocent act. It didn't work.

"About the fire ant that mysteriously appeared in my nest last night!" said Ivypool angrily.

"Oh yeah, that," Silverpaw replied sheepishly. "Umm..."

"Do you know who did it?" demanded Ivypool.

"Well, technically, I kind of might know who put the fire ant in your nest," she mumbled.

"Well _who was it_?!" By now literally every cat in ThunderClan had come out to watch Ivypool's meltdown.

"I can't tell," said Silverpaw. Ivypool's eyes narrowed.

"Tell me, or you will be searching the elders for ticks for the next moon." Ivypool's voice was strangely calm. _Yep, _Silverpaw thought, _I'm doomed._

_"_I'll take the ticks thanks," Silverpaw figured that doing ticks for a moon and Ivypool still not knowing that it was her was better than whatever punishment she would get if she confessed. Plus, the elders told good stories. It would be _that _bad, really...

Ivypool growled and stalked off to get something to eat. Silverpaw sighed with relief and trotted triumphantly over to Flamepaw, who was sitting with Jayfeather.

"She still doesn't know," the silver apprentice told them smugly. Flamepaw smiled.

"Who still doesn't know what?" asked Jayfeather suspiciously.

Silverpaw sighed. "I really don't want to have a repeat of that conversation."

Just then Squirrelflight came over to the small group.

"Silverpaw, Flamepaw. Border patrol. Now," Squirrelflight swept her tail in the direction of the entrance, where Cloudtail was waiting. Then the deputy turned and walked off to go order more cats on patrols.

"A border patrol!" squealed Silverpaw, and she ran off to meet Cloudtail. She skidded to a halt right in front of the entrance tunnel and craned her head up to look at her brother's mentor.

"Hello," Cloudtail purred, looking down at the silver apprentice.

"Hey," greeted Flamepaw, who waved his tail and sat next to Silverpaw. Cloudtail nodded at him and turned to exit the camp, indicating with his tail to follow. Silverpaw bounded after the fluffy white tom, leaving her brother to scurry after her.

"So," said Silverpaw when they three were well into the forest, "Ivypool's not coming?"

Cloudtail shook his head. "Nope." Silverpaw hoped that Ivypool would get over the prank soon. The rest of the journey was completed in silence. Finally the stream that marked the WindClan border came into view. When they reached the stream, Cloudtail started to re-mark the border. Silverpaw went up to the next marker and tried to copy what Cloudtail had done. Suddenly, Cloudtail hissed. Silverpaw turned to see a kittypet standing in front of Cloudtail. He was a very glossy-pelted ginger-and-white tom. His eyes were amber and showed a mixture of fear, awe and determination. He looked about the age of a young warrior.

"This is our territory," growled Cloudtail. The kittypet blinked.

"Are you from ThunderClan?" he asked hesitantly.

Cloudtail slid out his claws. "We don't take in random kittypets." The kittypet frowned.

"I don't want to join..."

"Well, what are you doing here?"

The tom puffed out his chest. "I'm here to help you."

"How in the name of StarClan could a kittypet help _us_?"

The kittypet blinked again. "You don't know?" he ventured.

"Don't know what?"

"About BloodClan."

"Of course I know about BloodClan. Every kit is told about BloodClan."

"Good. So I've been roped into it and so I want t-"

"BloodClan doesn't exist anymore."

"Uh, yeah. It does."

"How is that possible? We left them in the old forest."

"They rebuilt. It's taken them ages to find where you are now though." The kittypet let out a _mrroww _out laughter. Cloudtail's eyes widened in alarm. Then, the kittypet looked thoughtful. Silverpaw didn't know that kittypets could think. "Hey, can I talk to Firestar?"

Cloudtail hung his head. "He's dead."

"Oh, umm... Can I talk to whoever's your leader now then?"

"No," Cloudtail growled.

"Why not?"

"Because you're a kittypet. Kittypets aren't welcome in the Clans." The kittypet waved his tail dismissively.

"Yeah, I know, I know. By the way, my name's Taffy."

"Don't care."

"I want to see your leader."

"Don't care."

"Why not?"

"Hey!" Silverpaw interrupted. "How about we take him to the camp? Bramblestar will want to hear what Taffy here has to say if it concerns BloodClan coming back." Cloudtail thought about this for a few seconds, before scowing and looking up.

"Okay, fine," he growled and narrowed his eyes at Taffy. "But he stays in front of me." Cloudtail nudged Taffy in front of him.

"I have a name!" he protested. Taffy lifted his chin and started walking in the direction of the forest.

"Don't care," muttered Cloudtail.

Cloudtail gestured with his tail for Silverpaw to catch up to and walk in front of the kittypet. Silverpaw nodded and ran off to get ahead of Taffy, Flamepaw close behind. _That kittypet's probably going to get himself lost! _she thought to herself. _Though I wonder if he's telling the truth about BloodClan?_

Finally, Silverpaw spotted the ginger tabby weaving his way clumsily through the tall trees. Taffy had his nose in the air, trying to find the scent of ThunderClan's camp.

"Need help?" purred Silverpaw, coming up next to the kittypet.

"No," he replied.

"Do you know where you're going?" she asked.

"No."

The silver she-cat purred louder.

"I've been told to help you find the camp."

Taffy turned to give Silverpaw an annoyed glare. "I don't need...okay fine," he sighed, stopping. "Can you show me where this camp of yours is?"

"Sure. Just follow me." Silverpaw turned and started in the direction of the ThunderClan camp, Taffy following closely.


	7. Chapter six

**Okay, I've got some explaining to do here.**

**Guest: BloodClan would have told stories about how Firestar killed Scourge. And mai Taffycat's not a freakin' stalker. Read and there shall be an epic backstory.**

**Yowl: I shall think about it. I asked Taffy what he would want his warrior name to be (if he does become a warrior) but he didn't say anything XD **

**I've decided on Silver and Flame's warrior names, and just in case you didn't know, Taffy's mai kitty.**

_"Silverpaw! Wait up!" panted Flamepaw as he took off after his sister. She _had gone after that kittypet, Taffy. Without him. Just leaving her brother behind, running off with her greater speed. Without him. _Of course, Cloudtail sends little miss mousebrain off to go chase the kittypet, _Flamepaw thought wryly. By now the orange apprentice had lost sight of Silverpaw. Flamepaw sighed. The small tom started to head in the direction of the camp.

The forest was unusually quiet for sunhigh as Flamepaw walked through the dense undergrowth. Once or twice he caught a whiff of prey, but Flamepaw didn't stop. He just walked on slowly, using his nose to find the way. After awhile the tunnel leading into the camp came into view. The meows could be heard even from where Flamepaw was standing, _outside _the camp.

"Kittypet!"

"Why is there a kittypet in the camp?"

"Who brought him here?"

The fiery-pelted tom took a deep breath and walked into ThunderClan's camp. It was pretty much chaos. Cats were peering out of den entries, standing around gossiping and casting hostile glares at Taffy, who was in the middle of the clearing. He was shaking slightly, but trying not to show it. Silverpaw was standing next to the ginger tabby, silently daring anyone to step forward. Then one voice rose above the many others, hushing the whole Clan.

"Silverpaw," Bramblestar said, striding forward to stand in front of the silver she-cat. "Why have you brought a kittypet to our camp? I assume that you have a very good reason." Silverpaw nodded.

"Yes, I do Bramblestar," she said. "Taffy, that's the kittypet's name, told me something that concerns the Clan's safety." Bramblestar's eyes sparked with interest as he turned to Taffy.

"Tell me this news," he commanded.

"Umm . . . it's a long story but, BloodClan has been revived and now they're here and they want to kill everyone because the old BloodClan was defeated an-"

"How is this possible?" asked Bramblestar angrily. "How did they find us?"

"This might take awhile to explain..."

Bramblestar sighed. "Okay, come to my den and explain then. It's not like I have anything else I could be doing," he added dryly. "Silverpaw, Flamepaw, I want you to come too."

_So Bramblestar thinks that this might have something to do with the omen, _Flamepaw mused. He shrugged and followed Silverpaw, Taffy and Bramblestar to the leader's den. The orange apprentice stopped short at the Highledge. It was huge!

"So...we're supposed to climb _that_?" he asked, flicking his tail in the direction of the steep cliff in front of him.

"Yup," said Silverpaw, and she started to slowly scale the wall. "It's just like climbing a tree!"

Flamepaw frowned but followed suit. Climbing a tree, as it turned out, was a lot easier than climbing up a rock cliff. But a minute (and one fall) later, Flamepaw stood triumphantly on the Highledge.

"Took you long enough," Silverpaw purred. She turned and disappeared into Bramblestar's den. Flamepaw scurried inside. The ThunderClan leader had already sat down in his nest and was now grooming himself. Taffy was sitting next to and kind of leaning on one of the side walls. Silverpaw sat near the opposite wall and beckoned with her tail for her brother to join her.

Flamepaw walked over to the silver-and-white apprentice and sat down next to her.

"So," Bramblestar began, "tell us everything. From the start, right to the very end." Taffy nodded and started talking.

"Well, I was at home, in the garden, then this big cat came and he was all like, 'you're coming with me' and I was like, 'nah, I don't wanna come with you' and he was like, 'too bad' and then he just picked me up and took me to the camp thing, which was really weird and gross, and they didn't even have any beds there! Can you believe that? How would they get comfortable, and sleep, an-"

"Maybe not so much detail," sighed Bramblestar. Taffy blinked.

"Oh, okay. So after he took me to the new BloodClan, I met their leader. He was mean." Bramblestar raised an eyebrow. "His name was, like, Frost. Or something like that. Then his 'deputy' turned out to be the big cat who took me, and he was called Thorn. So then they explained about the Clans, and the old BloodClan, and about Firestar, and their 'evil plan'. Then they were like, 'You're gonna stay here, and help us', and I was like, 'nah, mate', and they were like, 'wanna die?', and I was like 'nah thanks'. I still didn't wanna help them, so then I remembered some of the stories that my mother told me when when I was a kitten. Those stories about the noble and brave warriors who were so awesome . . .and I decided that I wanted to help you. I want to be your spy on the inside." Taffy paused, looking for some sort of response. "I've always wanted to say that," he mused. _I don't know what to think of this one . . . _Flamepaw thought, whiskers twitching with amusemant.

After a few seconds Bramblestar answered, "You know how ruthless these cats are. If you get caught, you're dead."

"Well that's better than being a BloodClan cat," Taffy announced.

"It would help us if you could bring information . . . how about every quater moon you meet us wherever Silverpaw and Flamepaw found you today?"

"I'll do my best," the kittypet meowed solemnly. Bramblestar dipped his head.

"Well, you'd best get going then. BloodClan will get suspicious if you stay here for too long." Taffy nodded and started out of the den. _Good luck, _Flamepaw thought as he watched the ginger tabby leave.

Flamepaw turned to Bramblestar. "Okay, so now what? Should we go, or . . ."

"No, I want to talk about something else. Just wait here for a minute, I want to go get Jayfeather and Squirrelflight." Bramblestar got up and padded toward the entrance.

"You're going to fit everyone in _here_?" asked Silverpaw, giving her leader a strange look.

The brown tabby purred, "No, of course not. Well go into the forest somewhere. For now I just want to know where you are." With that he turned and leaped down from the Highledge.

Silence was what remained while Bramblestar was gone. Flamepaw just sat and stared at the ceiling while Silverpaw sighed and lied down on the floor. About a minute later, a large shadow filled the entranceway.

"Let's go." Silverpaw leapt to her paws and immediately started after the cat. Flamepaw followed more slowly after her.

As the orange apprentice jumped, or rather, half fell, down from the Highledge, he saw Bramblestar, Silverpaw, Squirrelflight and Jayfeather all waiting at the entrance to the camp. Flamepaw hurried over to join them and the group set off into the territory, led by Bramblestar. The afternoon was already nighttime cool and dark clouds threatened to release their load of water onto the forest. There wasn't much prey out, but that wasn't what the ThunderClan cas were wanting. After a few minutes of twisting and turning through the undergrowth, Bramblestar came to a stop at a clearing. The brown tabby tom walked over to the other side and sat down. Squirrelflight went to sit with him, while Jayfeather just sat alone, hunched in one corner. Silverpaw and Flamepaw sat down together so that the five cats kind of formed a triangle.

Bramblestar started by filling in his deputy and medicine cat apprentice in on what had happened in his den. Squirrelflight nodded occasionally and Jayfeather growled when Bramblestar mentioned BloodClan coming back. When he finished, the broad-shouldered leader leaned back and flicked his tail at Jayfeather.

"So, do you think that this relates to the omen or not?" he asked. Squirrelflight looked thoughtful.

Jayfeather replied, "Well, this is a big thing, you know with a battle that might be coming soon. But the omen was about the Dark Forest, not BloodClan." Bramblestar nodded.

Then an idea came to Flamepaw. "What do the Dark Forest and BloodClan have in common? Mabye that could tell us something!" Everyone thought for a few seconds about this. Then, Squirrelflight spoke up.

"This is just a theory," she began hesitantly, "but we have recently had a battle with the Dark Forest, and won . . ." Bramblestar's eyes widened.

"And the battle with BloodClan in the old forest was won by the Clans as well!" he finished. Jayfeather slowly nodded.

"But how does that help us?" the apprentice medicine cat frowned.

Bramblestar's tail drooped. "I don't know."

"We can figure that out later," Squirrelflight said, burying her muzzle in his shoulder. "For now we should be getting back. The Clan can't survive without their leader, deputy, medicine cat apprentice _and _the apprentices. Everyone will be wondering where you are, and you might want to tell the Clan about BloodClan." Bramblestar shook his broad head.

"No, I don't want to tell them anything until Taffy finds some information about where, when and, you know. But we should go back."

Without another word, Bramblestar got up and led the way back to camp.


	8. Chapter seven

**Hey, 'Sme again! *crowd groans* Thx so much for no flames I really appreciate it. Just so ya know, I've posted a new story on FictionPress. Same user if you want to read it.**

**Yowl: Those names sound great!**

_Silverpaw collapsed in a heap on the ground. Her attacker smirked _and raised his paw to deliver the final blow. Or so he thought. Just as the orange paw came down, Silverpaw rolled to one side. She leapt to her paws and jumped onto the other cat's back. The attacker gasped as the air was knocked out of him and crumpled under her sudden weight.

"I surrender," the orange cat sighed. When Silverpaw still didn't move he exclaimed, "Get _off _you big lump of fur, I surrender!" Silverpaw still didn't budge.

"Silverpaw, get off your poor brother will you?" Cloudtail called. Silverpaw stuck out her tounge at him but got off of Flamepaw, who was glaring up at her.

"Finally," Flamepaw said, picking himself up and grooming his dusty fur.

"That was a good move, faking defeat," commented Ivypool. Cloudtail nodded and Silverpaw felt a rush of pride. _I'm gonna be the best warrior ThunderClan have ever seen! _

"Again," commanded Flamepaw, who was already crouching in a battle stance at the other side of the clearing. Silverpaw nodded and crouched on the opposite side of the clearing to him. Once both apprentices were ready, Silverpaw didn't wait longer than a second before she sprinted over to her brother. When the silver she-cat got about a fox-length away, she launched herself onto Flamepaw. _Got you now, _Silverpaw thought as she pinned the orange tom down. But suddenly, Flamepaw tucked his hind legs in and thrust them upwards, forcing Silverpaw to let go.

Then the orange apprentice crouched again, his tail flicking back and forth. _No way is he going to beat me! _Silverpaw ran at her brother and jumped. But Flamepaw was ready and dived under the silver she-cat. When Silverpaw landed, Flamepaw started to pummel her belly with sheathed paws. Silverpaw knew that in a real battle, if the fire-coloured tom under her was actually clawing her, that would hurt a _lot. _It could even send her running to the medicine cat. Silverpaw mentally clawed herself for being so stupid as to give her opponent a perfect opportunity.

As Flamepaw crawled out from under Silverpaw, the silver apprentice glanced worriedly at her mentor.

"I'm sorry," she started. But instead of the expected disappointment, Ivypool's eyes were full of understanding and amusement.

"It's okay, Silverpaw," she purred. "You don't have to be perfect, and this is your first time." The silver she-cat relaxed. So it's okay if she messed up a bit.

Cloudtail glanced up at the darkening sky and announced, "We should be thinking about getting back to camp."

Ivypool nodded and turned to lead the way through the undergrowth. Silverpaw and Flamepaw followed, along with Cloudtail. As the four made their way through the undergrowth, the sun began to set. The sky was streaked with pink and red. Then Ivypool suddenly stopped up ahead. In a heartbeat, she had leapt into the forest, screeching with claws out.

Up ahead, flashes of white mixed with brown showed that something else was with the warriors.

"Silverpaw, Flamepaw! One of you go and get back up," ordered Ivypool, struggling to keep a huge tom pinned. "They could be headed for the camp." In one shared glance, the littermates decided who should run. Silverpaw took off at top speed through the forest, leaving her brother to help fight.

_Get help, get help, _Silverpaw thought as she sped through ThunderClan's territory. Before long, the camp was in sight. The silver apprentice rushed through the barrier, ignoring the brambles that tugged at her pelt. As she burst into the clearing, Bramblestar came hurrying over.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, seeing the wild look in Silverpaw's eyes. Breathlessly, she nodded.

"We got . . . ambushed . . . by cats and Ivypool said . . . get help," she explained in between pants. Bramblestar immediately started calling cats.

"Lionblaze, Mouswhisker, Thornclaw, Hazeltail, Cinderheart and Squirrleflight! Come with me!" he called, and the cats came over to join them as Bramblestar took off through the tunnel. Silverpaw quickly nuzzled her parents in greeting before heading off with them on the patrol.

Outside the camp, everyone assembled around Bramblestar, who launched into a small speech.

"Okay everyone. The cats we are fighting are _outside _of the warrior code, and obviously want to make their presence known. Be careful, because they may try to kill you. Silverpaw, come and lead the way to the others. Let's show these rouges what happens when they mess with ThunderClan!"

All eyes turned to Silverpaw and she nodded before taking off in the direction of the mentors and her brother. Everyone was silent on the quick journey as they ran on towards the battle ahead. Although no-one spoke, but everyone was feeling the air crackling with tension.

Silverpaw heard it before she saw it.

The noise was the unmistakeable wail of a cat. Her brother. The silver and white apprentice ran even faster towards the noise. As the patrol burst into the clearing, Silverpaw saw it. Something that she had hoped to never see in her entire life. Flamepaw and Cloudtail were cornered by five rouges, out matched and tired. And on the ground, lying unnaturally still and bloodied, was Ivypool. Two more rouges were standing over her body, grinning sadisticly.

They all turned when Silverpaw screeched her fury and leapt on the nearest rouge. Around her, the other ThunderClan cats also joined in the battle. The silver she-cat felt a huge rage building up inside, and unmercifully shredded the rouge who she was on top of. Now he started to yowl and attempted to shake his attacker off. But Silverpaw just narrowed her eyes and dug her claws in deeper. Out of the corner of her eye, the apprentice could see that ThunderClan was winning now.

"Scum!" she hissed coldly in the ear of the cat beneath her. Silverpaw started raking her opponent with both paws. Left . . . right . . . left . . . right . . . left . . . right . . . left . . . Jaws clamped down on her scruff and pulled her away. Silverpaw turned around to see Cloudtail, blood tainting his pure white fur in large patches.

"Stop," he commanded. The silver apprentice glanced over her shoulder, confused. No other rouges were left in the clearing, only ThunderClan cats now. The rouge she fought lay limp on the blood-stained sand, with more deep scratches along his belly than Silverpaw could count. It looked like he had a deep red underbelly. The she-cat gasped. "I think he's dead," Cloudtail finished, voice deadpan. _How . . . I killed that cat! _Silverpaw thought, panicked. _He's dead! Why . . .? Ivypool! _

Silverpaw jerked her gaze from the body of the rouge and searched the clearing for her mentor. Ivypool was lying to the side of the battleground, and Jayfeather was standing over her with some herbs. The apprentice dashed over to them.

"Is she . . .?" she trailed off, desperation sparking in her eyes.

"No."

"Wait, what?" Silverpaw asked, surprised. Ivypool was dead, wasn't she? Or not . . .

"She's alive," Jayfeather grumbled irritably. "For now, at least. Has a minor concussion, but if we can't get her back to camp soon, I can't save her."

Silverpaw murmered a quick, 'I'll get help' and ran back over to Cloudtail.

"Cloudtail! Ivypool needs to be carried back to camp!" she exclaimed urgently. The white warrior nodded briskly and trotted over to Jayfeather. Silverpaw sighed and walked into the forest, abandoning her fellow ThunderClanners to clean up and get back to camp. The trees swayed gently, and a light breeze swept through the forest as the apprentice padded slowly. Silverpaw couldn't help but think of the rouge she killed, and his torn body.

_I'm only nearly seven moons old, and I've killed a cat. Though they _did _attack us first . . . _All of a sudden, Silverpaw heard a soft voice whispering.

_"Silverpaw, beware! There is a storm looming on the horizon. This storm will unleash its rage on all it can, good or evil. It can be a devastating storm, or a powerful weapon. Decide now." _


	9. Chapter eight

**Heya. Like the story so far? Which out of the two siblings do you like best? Is there anything about them you don't like? On with story time!**

_"Let all cats of ThunderClan gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" _called Bramblestar from his perch. Cats streamed confusedly from all of the dens to hear what their leader was going to say. Once all the cats had assembled Bramblestar began. "Cats of ThunderClan! I have something important that you all need to know." From his place in the crowd, Flamepaw held his breath. Was he going to say what he thought he was going to?

"Jayfeather has had a vision." The clearing burst into a mix of groans and excited squeals from the younger cats, as well as many shocked gasps. "Quiet!" Bramblestar yelled above the noise. Everyone settled down. "Jayfeather will now explain further." All heads turned to the medicine cat, who looked unsure about revealing this. But, with a hard stare from his leader, Jayfeather reluctantly described his vision. Almost everyone started some sort of hyperventilation when the Dark Forest was mentioned.

This time though, Bramblestar let the clamour die down on its own. When it was near silent again, he continued.

"We we are not sure about who the cats are who ambushed us yesterday, but we do know something else. According to our source, BloodClan has been reunited under a new leader and have come for revenge."

"What?!"

"I thought we taught them a lesson back at the old forest!"

"Are you sure?"

"We defeated them before, we can do it again!"

"How did they find us?"

"Last time we faced a great enemy, we made the mistake of not warning the Clan sooner. I will notify everyone of further developments, but for now, keep your eyes open."

Bramblestar sighed and turned around, vanishing into his den.

"Meeting dismissed!" came his voice, drifting out from the cave behind the Highledge. The Clan broke into small groups and quietly discussed what had just happened.

Flamepaw turned to his sister.

"That was just plain stupid," he hissed to her. Silverpaw just nodded absentmindedly. _She's been like this since yesterday, _Flamepaw thought worriedly. _Hardly talking, distracted_. _Well, I guess it has only been a day... _

Flamepaw jolted out of his thoughts and asked, surprised, "Hey, what are you doing?" His silver and white sister was glaring at a scrap of moss beneath her paws, and had proceeded to shred it to pieces, growling and hissing at it. The flame-coloured tom tentatively prodded his littermate, and Silverpaw's head immediately shot up. A wild look that Flamepaw had never seen before had seized her normally calm blue eyes and her hackles were up.

Silverpaw's hissed at her brother and whirled around, stalking off. Flamepaw blinked in surprise. He was sure that something was wrong with her, but _what_, he had almost no idea. The death of that rouge couldn't have hurt her _that _badly, could it? They were outside the code, and could have killed _her_.

Flamepaw saw Hazeltail, Silverpaw's temporary mentor while Ivypool recovered, hurry after the apprentice as she disappeared into her den. A few seconds later, the gray and white warrior came out, defeated. Flamepaw padded up to his sister's mentor. Hazeltail still was sitting in front of the apprentice's den with her tail drooping when he reached her.

"Hey," he started. "Is she giving you a hard time?" Hazeltail nodded sullenly.

"Do you think I'm doing something wrong?" she fretted.

"Oh, no way!" Flamepaw reassured her quickly. "Silverpaw is just . . . yesterday was her first battle, that's all. She's yet to get over it."

Hazeltail nodded again, this time looking hopeful. "You're probably right. Is she talking to you?" Flamepaw shook his head no and the warrior frowned.

"Should I talk to Bramblestar about it?" she wondered. Flamepaw was surprised that a warrior was asking him for advice.

"I don't think so, but she's your apprentice for now. You should decide."

"Hmm. I'm just worried about her training, and do cats in this situation normally get like this, or am I pushing her to train too soon, or . . . or . . .I don't know."

Flamepaw thought for a bit before answering, "Mabye you could talk to a warrior who has also been a mentor to an apprentice." Hazeltail looked relieved at this suggestion and trotted off to the fresh-kill pile.

_Hmm, speaking of mentors . . ._ Flamepaw found Cloudtail standing in a cluster of warriors around Squirrelflight, presumably to hear the day's patrols. The orange apprentice decided to join them. When he got into hearing range, Flamepaw settled down next to his mentor.

"-Lilypool, Cloudtail, Flamepaw," the deputy called. "As well as . . . Does anyone know if Silverpaw is able to come?" Squirrelflight asked.

"No," came a tom's voice from the direction of the apprentice's den. Flamepaw turned to see Jayfeather. "She had a rough day yesterday, so no patrols today."

"Okay," Squirrleflight agreed, dipping her head before continuing assigning patrols. "And Seedfur."

The named cats, including Flamepaw, gathered near the entrance.

"Uh," Flamepaw spoke up uncertainly, and everyone in the patrol turned to look at him. "What are we doing, exactly? I didn't hear." Berrynose snorted and dissappeared through the tunnel. Luckily, Lilypool replied with, 'ShadowClan border patrol', which was closely followed by Seedfur adding, 'Berrynose's leading', wrinkling her nose.

The rest of the patrol then exited the camp, setting off at a quick jog to catch up to Berrynose.

_My first border patrol! _Flamepaw thought as the forest flew by. The scents and sounds of green-leaf threatened to overwhelm the young apprentice and before he knew it, they were at the ShadowClan-ThunderClan border.

"Alright! Seedfur and Lilypool, go towards the lake, Cloudtail and Flamepaw, follow me and we'll go upwards," Berrynose ordered. Lilypool rolled her eyes but everyone split up. Flamepaw trotted excitedly beside his mentor as Cloudtail showed him how to set a scent mark.

"Now, you try on that rock over-" A loud yowl cut Cloudtail off, and the pair raced over to Lilypool and Seedfur, where the noise had come from. The two littermates, along with Berrynose, were standing with hackles raised, facing the border. On the ShadowClan side, a patrol of five cats were doing the same. Flamepaw noted the fresh battle scars on most of them.

"What happened?" he asked, curious. One of the ShadowClan cats stepped forward.

"None of your business," they spat. Another cat pulled them aside and whispered urgently in their ear. The first cat, a large white tom with one black paw, started nodding. The second pointed to Flamepaw and Cloudtail. More nodding.

"Bring Bramblestar here. I want to talk to him," the white ShadowClanner ordered briskly. Flamepaw was just about to ask who he thought he was when Cloudtail responded.

"Yes, Blackstar, we'll go get him right away," the white warrior said. Lilypool then took off back to camp. _So this is the ShadowClanleader, huh? I wonder why he's called _Black_star? He's white!_

A few awkward minutes passed before Lilypool got back with Bramblestar and Squirrelflight. The ThunderClan leader settled down amd spoke first.

"Blackstar, Rowanclaw," he began, dipping his head to his fellow leader and the cat who had talked to him earlier. _I guess Rowanclaw is the deputy then? "_Why do you wish to speak today?" Bramblestar asked.

Blackstar replied, "We have had some . . . _issues_ recently, and by the looks of your warriors," This was obviously directed at Flamepaw and his mentor, "you seem to be having the same. The point is, our patrols are being attacked a group of rouges."

Bramblestar nodded. "Yes, we are being attacked also by these rouges. I was going to mention this at the Gathering tomorrow. Something else of interest is that a kittypet has stepped forward, and had apprently been forced to join a rouge group. He says that this is a new BloodClan out for revenge on the Clans."

"And you trust this _kittypet_?" Blackstar mocked. "Oh yes, I forgot, ThunderClan don't just _trust _kittypets, they take them in!" Bramblestar narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. Squirrelflight spoke for him.

"Well, Blackstar, this kittypet has agreed to meet us at the next quarter moon with inside information. If you would like, you can come too," the deputy offered.

"Okay then, I don't want ThunderClan keeping any secrets. We will be there at the next quarter moon," Blackstar agreed. With a flick of his tail, the ShadowClan patrol turned and melted into the towering pine trees of their territory.


	10. Chapter nine

Silverpaw sat at the entrance to the apprentice's den, staring at the night sky. The warriors of StarClan glittered coldly from their places in paradise. The silver apprentice sighed and lay down, resting her head on her paws. She couldn't sleep. Thoughts kept whirling around in her head, mainly about the events of the day before.

The rouges.

The kittypet.

Her Clanmates.

Ivypool, in the medicine den.

And those weird words which had been whispered to her as she ran from it all. _The storm. The storm which is supposedly coming to destroy us all. I'm _so_ scared, _she thought, smirking to herself. _Oh, and don't forget about the part where _I'm _the one who can stop it. Me. Again. Of course. Because, no, I can't just have a normal life with normal problems and normal . . . normalness? Ah, what am I saying? _

Silverpaw shook her head. _Yep, going crazy now. _The she-cat smiled a bit and stood up, shaking each of her stiff legs in turn.

"Silverpaw," a voice sounded, breaking through her thoughts. "Good to see you're already up, because we're going hunting. It'll be good to see how well you can stalk in the dark." Silverpaw looked up to see Hazeltail. Of course. Her new temporary mentor. Who was now telling her to go hunting. In the middle of the night. Oh, joy. Nevermind the fact that she had been warned of this last night. Which was technically tonight. But earlier.

"Let's not," the apprentice replied, flopping back down on the ground. She closed her eyes, hoping to make the warrior go away. Her mentor sighed frustratedly.

"Do you want your warrior name or not?" Hazeltail demanded. Silverpaw's eyes flew open.

"Yes!" she hissed, pushing past the she-cat and trotting to the camp entrance before sitting down. Silverpaw jutted out her chin as Hazeltail sat down beside her and turned her back pointedly.

"Look," the warrior sighed gently, "I know you are worried about Ivypool, and probably don't even want to train at all right now, but I'm your mentor for the next few days. So you're stuck with me. And we're going hunting. Right now. Maybe we can even do some battle practice after."

Silverpaw sat in silence for a moment before answering.

"_I'm_ going hunting," she said haughtily, quickly exiting the camp. Hazeltail followed.

When they had travelled a good way into the forest, the warrior stopped her apprentice.

"Okay then," Hazeltail panted. "You catch something, and I'll watch. Then we can see what you need to work on." While her mentor said this, the silver-and-white she-cat quietly tasted the air. A strong scent suddenly attacked her soft pink nose. _Vole, _she thought, swivelling her ears.

"Fine," Silverpaw replied. The apprentice immediately dropped into a hunter's crouch and started to slide forward in the direction of her target. After snaking around a bush, she saw the vole. It was just sitting there, almost underneath a clump of overhanging ferns. _Stupid creature. _Silverpaw padded forward a few steps, and then pounced. Unfortunately, she landed just short of her prey, and it started to escape hurriedly. The silver apprentice stretched out a white forepaw to snag the vole, claws extended. Her prey dove forward at the last moment and disappeared.

Silverpaw narrowed her eyes to try and spot how the night had stolen her target. The apprentice growled in frustration when she still couldn't see properly.

"There," Hazeltail said. Silverpaw turned around to see her mentor gesture with her muzzle to the ferns.

"I know that," Silverpaw spat angrily.

Hazeltail looked at her apprentice sternly. "Yes, but what you failed to notice was the den entrance that the ferns conceal."

The silver she-cat turned back to the ferns and padded closer, nosing around to find this mysterious hole. All her muzzle bumped was dirt and grass, though, and Hazeltail chuckled.

"That's not how you find a hole, Silverpaw," she sighed.

Silverpaw's left eye twitched, and she yelled frustratedly, "Well then _help me, _instead of standing there laughing at me!"

"Temper, young one," Hazeltail warned, moving a forepaw to point at the vole's den. It was right under her nose. And a couple of fern fronds. Silverpaw glared at the now-obvious hole. How could she not have noticed that?

Silverpaw ducked her head and flattened her ears in embarrassment.

"That was terrible," she muttered to herself. To Hazeltail, she added hopefully, "Could you teach me how to see in the dark?"

The warrior laughed. "I can't teach you how to see in the dark, Silverpaw. It's like asking me to teach you how to run. Some cats are better at it than others."

"No it's not," Silverpaw argued. "You can run faster if you practice it, and there are ways you can improve your speed. Surely there are some tips you can give me!"

Hazeltail's ears twitched thoughtfully. "I suppose you're right. Well, one thing you can do, is practice making out details in the dark."

"Isn't that what I'm trying to do?" Silverpaw asked, annoyed.

"Well, yes," Hazeltail agreed, nodding. "But this is just you sitting, and trying to see as far as you can."

The silver she-cat frowned, but tried staring deep into the forest.

"Now what can you see?" her mentor prompted.

Silverpaw strained her eyes to make out objects in the distance. After a few seconds, she answered.

"Uh, I see . . . a tree. And another tree. And a bush-"

"Silverpaw!" Hazeltail scolded impatiently. The silver apprentice poked her tounge out and continued her list.

"And a squirrel. Aaaaaaand . . . a cat. Wait, a cat?" Silverpaw asked, confused. It was the middle of the night, for StarClan's sake! She had though that only Hazeltail would be crazy enough to drag herself, and her apprentice, outside. Apparently not.

"Can you see who they are?" Hazeltail asked, now also peering into the forest.

Silverpaw shook her head. The cat was plain white, except for a bright orange mark on its forehead. "No one from ThunderClan," she concluded aloud.

"Let's check it out," the brown warrior suggested, heading off into the undergrowth. Silverpaw hesitated, instinct telling her to be careful. This cat could be one of the rouges. Or worse, BloodClan. "Come on, slowpoke," Hazeltail's voice teased, drifting back to the apprentice. Silverpaw growled playfully, but followed the warrior's voice. After Silverpaw had scrambled over a fallen log, however, she lost sight of her temporary mentor.

Silverpaw sighed and just continued walking in a straight line, hoping that Hazeltail had taken a direct route to the mystery cat.

While the silver she-cat was padding through the forest, still with no idea where she was going, she heard a voice. Two, actually.

"No, you mouse-brain! This way!" the first voice directed irritably. _Mouse-brain . . . that's a Clan term. But if this cat is from the Clans, why are they on our territory?_

"It's not my fault!" a second cat wailed. "I don't live here!"

"Neither do I," the first cat muttered, just loud enough for Silverpaw to catch if she strained her ears. "Now do me a favour and shut up until we get to the border."

The second cat grumbled something incoherent, then shrieked indignantly.

"What was that for?" they whined.

"You're going to wake the whole forest by the time we get there, that's what!" the first cat hissed. "You wanted me to take you to the ThunderClan-WindClan border, so that's where I will take you!"

By now, the voices were very close, and Silverpaw could see flashes of fur through the undergrowth. She narrowed her eyes to see better in the dark, and nearly jumped at what she saw.

Walking side-by-side were a dark brown tabby, and an all too familiar ginger tabby. The brown tabby reeked of ShadowClan.

_What are they doing here?_


	11. Chapter ten

**I fixed that error with the format :D and . . WE HAVE PASSED 1000 VIEWS I'M SO HAPPY NOW**

Flamepaw padded beside his mentor, trying not to skip ahead. Tonight would be his first Gathering! Hopefully. Surely Bramblestar would let the two apprentices go. Flamepaw wondered what the cats from the other Clans would be like. _Hostile, probably. We _are _from different Clans, after all, _he reasoned with himself. _I imagine that ShadowClan would be the most unfriendly . . . And RiverClan would just sit there, grooming themselves to perfection, from what Sandstorm's told me . . ._

The orange apprentice stopped abruptly, staring down at his soaked paws. Behind him, someone was not-so-discreetly laughing their head off. Flamepaw turned and glared at the white warrior, who was standing on the shore. Cloudtail choked on his laugh and fell silent, averting his gaze to the middle of the lake. Shaking his head, Flamepaw sighed and waded out of the water and onto dry land, trying not to get his paws any wetter. Cloudtail chose that moment to glance at his apprentice once more. He promptly burst out into laughter again.

"You're waddling like a bird!" he exclaimed.

"You try walking out of the lake next time," Flamepaw snapped. "I really don't see what you find so hilarious."

Cloudtail took a deep breath and placed a calm expression on his muzzle, now apparently sober.

"I'm sorry," the warrior retorted, not looking sorry at all. "Sorry that you waked _right into the middle of the lake without even realising it."_

"It wasn't the middle," Flamepaw corrected. "Can we just get back to camp now?"

Cloudtail shrugged. "We've checked the border. We've even checked the lake."

"Will you just drop that?" the orange apprentice demanded. "I was thinking."

"Nope," the white tom snickered. "Wait 'till everyone at camp hears how you got soaked."

Flamepaw sighed and tapped one forepaw against the ground impatiently. Sometimes Cloudtail could be more immature than him! Actually, that was nearly all of the time. Silverpaw maintained that he was always too serious. Whatever. He didn't care.

The walk back to camp was silent. Cloudtail would let out the occasional snort as he reminded himself of . . . _recent events_, but otherwise didn't say anything. Which was just as well, because Flamepaw kept glaring sideways at his mentor. When they passed the bramble barrier, Flamepaw headed straight for the medicine cat den, pausing at the entrance to watch his mentor. Cloudtail, to his apprentice's dismay, padded over to the largest group of warriors in the camp.

_Oh well, _Flamepaw thought. _Nothing I can do about him now. _

"Flamepaw. Are you planning on coming in, or are you just going to block my exit?"

The orange tom turned to see Jayfeather flicking his tail imaptiently, a bundle of herbs in his jaws.

"Oh. Sorry," he mumbled, scurrying inside the medicine cat's den. Jayfeather put down his herbs and turned his blind blue gaze to his nephew.

"What's wrong?" the medicine cat apprentice sighed.

"I, uh, walked . . ." Flamepaw stuttered, wary of what mockery he might recieve, " . . into . . . the lake. And I got wet."

Jayfeather looked skeptical. "So?"

"I might catch a cold?" the orange tom suggested.

The gray tom grunted in agreement and poked Flamepaw's side a few times to feel how wet he was.

"You'll live. From what I can tell, you just got your paws wet. If you start sneezing, come back," Jayfeather instructed.

Flamepaw nodded and thanked his uncle, padding back out into the clearing. Automatically, he started searching the area for his sister. The orange tom found her sitting by Hazeltail and Cloudtail. Flamepaw barely got a chance to sit down before a loud yowl cut through the afternoon air.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

Everyone in ThunderClan turned to listen to their leader speak.

"As you all know, tonight is the Gathering," Bramblestar began. Beside Flamepaw, Silverpaw squealed with excitement. "The cats who are going are; Squirrelflight, Sandstorm, Graystripe, Birchfall, Hazeltail, Silverpaw, Cloudtail, Flamepaw, Lilypool, Seedfur, Thornclaw, Amberspots, Dewheart and Snowfire."

Flamepaw turned his head to see his sister doing a small victory dance.

"Calm down, will you?" Hazeltail sighed. "It's only a Gathering." Silverpaw glared at her temporary mentor. "And anyways, you guys should eat before we leave," she added, flicking her tail. Hazeltail walked off to talk to her littermates, and Cloudtail followed.

"She's so annoying," Silverpaw complained. Flamepaw shook his head.

"Whatever you say," he meowed. "We should eat though. I'll grab us something." With that he quickly scurried over to the fresh-kill pile, grabbing the closest piece of prey which looked large enough. Flamepaw hurried back to his sister and together they devoured the small rabbit. When they were finished, they joined the group leaving for the Gathering.

The walk to the Gathering island was surprisingly short, and before Flamepaw knew it, they were at the foot of the tree-bridge. The orange tom hesitated, eyeing the strong currents of the river below.

An impatient voice spurred him on before he could back out. "Come on, slowpoke!"

Still unsure, Flamepaw placed a paw on the trunk experimentally. It seemed sturdy enough. The apprentice climbed fully onto the tree, but kept in a crouch. Flamepaw crawled along the trunk, keeping his gaze on the opposite bank until he was close enough to leap onto it. When the whole group had crossed, Bramblestar led the way through the undergrowth to a large clearing. Cats who Flamepaw had never seen before filled the area. A large oak tree sat in the centre of the clearing, which he guessed was the Great Oak.

"Come on, let's find the other apprentices!" Silverpaw squealed, hooking a forepaw around her brother's leg and tugging. Flamepaw sighed and let the silver she-cat drag him to a group of cats who looked to be about their age. There were four cats, not including Silverpaw and himself.

"Hi!" a pretty gray she-cat greeted warmly. Next to her, a black tom slouched, his expression one of pure distaste. "I'm Larkpaw," she announced. "My brother," she flicked her tail to the black tom, "is Crouchpaw. We're from WindClan."

A ginger tom shouldered Larkpaw out of the way, puffing out his chest. "I'm Stoatpaw of ShadowClan. Nice to meet you . ." He trailed off, looking at Silverpaw.

"Silverpaw and Flamepaw," Flamepaw cut in, glaring at Stoatpaw. "We're from ThunderClan."

"Silverpaw. Pretty name for a pretty she-cat," Stoatpaw meowed, winking at Silverpaw. Flamepaw glanced sideways at his sister, but to his relief she seemed unimpressed.

"Anyway," Larkpaw said loudly, "that one over there is Heronpaw, from RiverClan." Flamepaw turned to see a brown tabby tom who he didn't notice before flick his ears in acknowledgement. "So, enjoying being an apprentice do far?" Larkpaw asked pleasantly.

"Not as long as you're around," Crouchpaw growled, speaking for the first time. Larkpaw pouted at the black tom.

"Be nice, brother," she chided.

"'Be nice!', 'Don't be mean!', 'Stop being so _grumpy _all the time!'," Crouchpaw mimicked.

Larkpaw just flicked her ears at that, shaking her head in disapproval. "Ignore him," she advised.

Flamepaw nodded absently. These two were apparently siblings, but they seemed like yin and yang.

"Ignore _her_," Stoatpaw meowed. "You know," he started, looking at Silverpaw, "the other day I caught ten frogs all by myself."

"Wow!" Larkpaw exclaimed. "You must be really good at hunting!" Her eyes went wide in admiration.

"Oh really?" Crouchpaw drawled. "Well, the other day, I caught five hundred rabbits _all by myself _and it was so amazing that everyone loves me now."

Stoatpaw glared at the WindClan tom, ignoring Larkpaw.

"You two are so contradictory of each other," Silverpaw remarked. "You're like Happypaw and Grumpypaw." Flamepaw laughed at this, nodding along.

"Well, this has been great and all, but I think that the Gathering's starting," Heronpaw meowed, subtly edging away from the group.

"No it's not!" Larkpaw exclaimed. "Stay with us! Pleeeaase?" The gray she-cat batted her eyelashes and pouted.

Heronpaw sighed and muttered sarcastically, "How could I possibly so no to a face like that?"

Larkpaw's face brightened, if that was even possible.

"I do it all of the time," Crouchpaw informed the RiverClan apprentice.

"I imagine you do," Heronpaw replied coolly. "But really, the Gathering is about to start." The group of apprentices turned to the Greak Oak, where the four Clan leaders sat.

Bramblestar spoke before anyone else.

"Cats of all Clans, I have something important to tell you all. We must prepare for battle. BloodClan has returned! And to add to that, a mysterious group of rouges have started ambushing patrols."

Cats all around the clearing started to talk at once. The four leaders had to yowl over the noise to get quiet once more.

"Bramblestar," Onestar said. "How do you know of this?"

The ThunderClan leader didn't get a chance to reply before a cat spoke out.

"Why hello!" Everyone turned to see a muscular white tom stride into the clearing. He had a bright orange blaze on his forehead. "Now that I have your attention, I'll introduce myself. My name is Frost. Move aside now, so I may take my place." Frost trotted through the crowd of cats until he got to the Great Oak. With one powerful leap, he joined the Clan leaders in the branches.

"Who do you think you are?" Mistystar demanded.

"Why, I am a Clan leader, am I not? So why shouldn't I be up here with the rest of you?" Frost asked, feigning confusion.

"Oh yes?" Blackstar replied. "Then where is your Clan?"

Frost smiled, showing his sharp teeth. "Right here." At this, cats of all ages came streaming into the clearing, forming a group about the size of the cats ThunderClan had brought. They didn't seem hostile, and just settled down with everyone else. "Okay, please continue," Frost commanded, flicking his tail at Bramblestar. "BloodClan has arrived."


	12. Chapter eleven

**Mika: Stop right there, missy ~**

**Love your book (Guest): Interesting pairing? O_o But to put it short, no. Frost is way older than Silver, and it would be weird and complicated.**

_I thought they were supposed to stay quiet and ambush the Clans at a randomly appointed date. Not decide to join the Gathering, _Silverpaw thought, eyeing the new arrivals warily. Next to her, Flamepaw placed his tail around her shoulders protectively. Even though Silverpaw wouldn't say it out loud, it comforted her.

"Well?" a loud voice asked, bringing the silver she-cat's attention back to the . . . _situation_ at paw. "Are you going to talk or just sit there gaping like fish?" Frost demanded. Silverpaw bit her lip. Frost seemed familiar, but she couldn't place why. White tom, orange blaze . . .

Bramblestar spoke up. "Frost, what makes you think that BloodClan can join the Gathering?"

Frost glared at the ThunderClan leader angrily. To the crowd, he asked, "How are we not a Clan? We have a leader, deputy and warriors."

"It takes more than that to make a Clan," Bramblestar replied softly.

"Besides," Blackstar hissed, "you don't even have proper Clan names! You should be Frost_star_ if you were a real leader."

Frost flicked his tail and nodded. "Okay then." He turned his attention the to cats below and announced, "BloodClan, from now on, we shall have Clan names. You will adress me as Froststar. Make up your own names." Froststar turned back to Bramblestar. "Better now?" he asked, baring his teeth in a horrible imitation of a smile.

The ThunderClan leader sighed. "No. StarClan has to give you your name and nine lives. And you're still not welcome."

Froststar frowned. "Who said we needed your approval? And this StarClan isn't objecting, unless my eyes decieve me." Silverpaw glanced at the full moon and saw that there were indeed no clouds to hide it. _Why? StarClan do something! _she silently yowled. "BloodClan will make their territory above ThunderClan's. I will make sure that the cats are given proper names. Gathering dismissed!" he finished, leaping down from the Great Oak.

Froststar led the BloodClan cats out of the clearing. As soon as they were gone, cats broke out into conversation. The four leaders had a quick discussion, but soon leapt down to take their Clans home.

Silverpaw followed the ThunderClan cats in a daze, barely remembering to say goodbye to the other apprentices. As they crossed back into ThunderClan's territory, she breathed a sigh of relief. To her right, BloodClan cats were making their way up the WindClan border.

"Hey," a voice hissed. Silverpaw glanced around, but saw no one other than her Clanmates. "_To your left!" _Surprised, the silver she-cat jumped when a ginger tabby suddenly appeared next to her. He narrowed his amber eyes and whispered, "Meet me tomorrow morning at dawn. The usual place." With that, the ex-kittypet crawled back into the undergrowth. Silverpaw's ice blue eyes followed him as he 'stealthily' slunk back to the group of BloodClan cats. She let out a small _mrrrow _of amusement before breaking into a jog to catch up to her Clan. Still smiling, Silverpaw trotted beside her brother until they got back to camp.

As soon as she was safely in the clearing, Silverpaw headed straight for the apprentice's den. She half-heard Bramblestar calling all of the cats who hadn't come to the Gathering outside, most likely to explain what had happened with BloodClan. The silver she-cat curled up in her nest and closed her eyes, ready to let sleep take her for the night. After all, she had been told to meet someone at dawn.

"Silverpaw," someone whispered. The apprentice grunted and opened one blue eye. Flamepaw was sitting in his own nest, his tail twitching agitatedly. His dark blue eyes were focused on the far corner of the den.

"What's wrong?" Silverpaw sighed. She needed to get to sleep.

Flamepaw hesitated, eyes flickering down to his paws.

"What?" Silverpaw repeated, slightly annoyed. If he really needed to speak to her, why didn't he just say what he wanted to already?

"What do you think BloodClan is planning?" he asked, staring his sister in the eye.

Silverpaw rolled her eyes. Really, was that all? "I dunno," she huffed, settling down to sleep again.

"But-" Flamepaw started to complain, but the silver apprentice cut him off.

"Taffy wants to meet at dawn. I guess we'll find out then. Happy?" Silverpaw hissed. Closing her eyes, she placed her head on her white paws.

"Oh. O-okay," Flamepaw mumbled, sounding hurt. She heard moss shifting around, and before long she fell asleep.

oOo

Poke.

Poke.

Poke poke.

Po-

"Stop that!" Silverpaw snapped, sitting up and glaring at the cat in front of her.

"It's dawn," Flamepaw stated.

"Genius," Silverpaw muttered. "Who would have thought?"

The orange tom growled, glaring at his sister. "_Meeting?"_

_"_Hmm?" the silver apprentice asked, still half-asleep.

"I'll just go meet the kittypet at . . Wait, where were we meeting?" Flamepaw asked, tilting his head to one side.

"'The usual place'," Silverpaw replied, shooting a smirk at her brother.

"Okay," Flamepaw nodded, padding out of the den. The silver she-cat let out an indignant cry. How could he just leave her? Silverpaw quickly ran out to follow her littermate. She caught up to him quite easily, and the two left the camp together. Flamepaw set a fast pace through ThunderClan's territory, and soon they were at the WindClan border. Emerging from the undergrowth, Silverpaw immediately spotted the ginger tabby standing next to the stream.

"We're here!" she called. Taffy turned his head and smiled in greeting.

"Hey-"

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a voice tsked. Silverpaw's hackles rose, and she turned to face the cat who had just appeared. Taffy looked positively terrified, and Flamepaw took up a defensive postition in front of the kittypet.

"Frost," Silverpaw snarled. That stupid kittypet must have given them away! She should have known better than to trust a BloodClan cat!

The white tom laughed menacingly. "That's Frost_star _to you. It seems I have a traitor," he observed, eying Taffy with distaste.

Silverpaw's eyes widened. So he _didn't _give them away. Froststar noticed her look and chuckled softly.

"He's not as stealthy as he would like to think he is," he explained. "And now, I will have to kill him. And you, I suppose, if he's been telling you anything." Froststar sighed. "What a waste. Not." The white tom stalked up to Taffy, shouldering Flamepaw aside. He raised his paw to kill the kittypet, a twisted grin on his face.

"I never liked kittypets anyway."


	13. Chapter twelve

**Phoenixflame: XD lol. Guess you can find out now!**

"I never liked kittypets anyway."

Flamepaw stared at the white tom in horror, still gasping for breath after Froststar had knocked the wind out of him. The BloodClan tom brought his paw down onto the kittypet, who was shivering in fear. _Thwack. _There was a flash of brown, and Taffy was thrown into the stream by the force of impact. Silverpaw rushed over to try and get him out. Turning to Froststar, Flamepaw was surprised to see the white tom pinned against the ground by a muscular golden cat.

A dark brown tabby lay on the ground where Taffy had been standing, deep claw marks gouging his muzzle.

"Flamepaw," Lionblaze called, struggling to keep the snarling tom beneath him under control. The orange apprentice snapped to attention, only now gathering what had just happened.

"I'll get help," he promised, turning to leave.

"Whaght," Silverpaw called around a mouthful of fur. Flamepaw glanced over his shoulder to see that his sister had successfully helped the kittypet out of the stream. Silverpaw let go of Taffy's scruff now that he was safe, and the ginger tabby crumpled in a heap on the ground. "I'll go," she offered, padding toward Flamepaw.

The orange tom pointed his nose at Taffy. "He's injured and weak. And who is that tabby . . .?" Flamepaw peered around his sister to have a look at the unmoving cat lying on the ground. _Brown tabby pelt, muscluar, amber eyes. Bramblestar? . . . Wait, his eyes are open! _The brown tabby stirred slightly, and rolled over, cringing at something Flamepaw couldn't see.

_"_Bramblestar needs to get back to camp," Lionblaze informed his kits. _As if that wasn't already obvious! _Flamepaw thought, internally scowling. "I'll take _Frost_," he sneered down at the white tom, "out of our territory." Lionblaze gave Froststar one last good hit before proceeding to drag the protesting tom away. Flamepaw blinked in surprise, not having seen this side of his father. He was normally quite placid. With a flick of her tail, Silverpaw shrugged and padded over to Taffy. She picked him up by the scruff once more and commenced dragging the poor tom through the forest.

Flamepaw padded over to his leader, unsure of how to carry him back. It wouldn't be proper to drag a _Clan leader _across the ground, and he was too big anyway. _Maybe I can carry him on his back? No, too heavy. I would probably get squashed._ Flamepaw started walking in circles around Bramblestar while he thought of a few other possibilities. He finally came to the conclusion that he couldn't carry the brown tom, and that Bramblestar would have to walk himself.

Flamepaw tried poking his leader, in case he had fallen asleep. It worked with Silverpaw pretty well. . . . Scratch that, it didn't work with Silverpaw. It just made her even more irritable when she woke up. But that was not the point. Flamepaw sighed and inacted phase two of the 'Get Silverpaw to Wake Up in the Morning' routine that he had made up in his head the other night before going to sleep.

"Wake up . . . Waaaake up . . . Wakeupwakeupwakeup!" Flamepaw exclaimed. He took a deep breath and glanced around to make sure he was alone before shouting right in the tabby's ear, "_Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup_!"

Bramblestar opened one eye, startled. "What in StarClan . . .?"

"Okay. That worked. Let's go back to camp," Flamepaw meowed. The ThunderClan leader still looked very confused and slightly frightened, but nodded and stood up. Bramblestar led the way back to camp in silence. They met up with Lionblaze at one stage, and the golden warrior started reporting to his leader straight away.

When they arrived at the camp, the first thing Flamepaw noticed was that Silverpaw and Taffy were sharing a rabbit near the apprentice's den. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. When had they become such fast friends?

"Taffy!" an irritated cat called. Jayfeather emerged from the medicine cat den with a small bundle of herbs in his jaws. "Get back over here right now!" Flamepaw saw the kittypet's eyes widen in fright. Silverpaw continued eating, but the orange tom was close enough to see a sparkle of amusement in her blue eyes.

Jayfeather padded over to the pair and put the herbs down in front of Taffy, murmuring something in his ear. The ginger tabby's amber eyes widened even more, and his neck fur bristled. Hesitantly, Taffy licked up the herbs, screwing up his face in disgust. Flamepaw's whiskers twitched and he smiled slightly. _Herbs don't taste the best . . ._

Suddenly, a silver and white head popped out of the medicine den. Silverpaw snapped to attention, looking pleased at the sight of the warrior. The silver apprentice broke into a welcoming purr.

"How much longer do you plan to keep me cooped up in here?!" Ivypool demanded.

"As long as it takes for you to heal," Jayfeather replied. "You took quite a beating."

Ivypool scowled. "It was not _quite a beating_. Merely a scratch," she sniffed, padding out of the shadows of the den. Flamepaw gaped at the state she was in. Herbs were stuck _everywhere _on Ivypool's body, making her normally silver and white fur look a splotchy pale green in places.

"Your belly was torn open," the blind tom corrected.

"Whatever," Ivypool huffed. "I'm tired of sitting around all day! If I have to stay another day, I'll go insane. _Insane _I tell you!" she meowed dramatically.

"You'll survive," Jayfeather replied. "Oh, and leave the wailing to Dovewing."

Ivypool hissed, and stamped her paw. "Drat, I thought that would work. It does for _her_."

"Tell you what," the medicine cat said, sniffing the she-cat's wounds. "You can go back to your warrior duties tomorrow morning."

The silver and white warrior groaned. "But it's only nearly sunhigh!" With a wistful glance at the hunting patrol setting off, Ivypool turned and disappeared back into the den.

Jayfeather sighed and muttered, "See what I've had to deal with?" Taffy peered curiously into the medicine den.

"What happened to her?" he inquired carefully.

"She got into a fight," Jayfeather stated helpfully.

Taffy glared at the blind medicne cat, annoyed. "I can see that."

"A group of rouges ambushed our patrol," Silverpaw cut in.

"Oh. Okay," Taffy nodded, placing his head on his paws.

Jayfeather eyed the kittypet, before he picked up the remaining herbs and trotted away. As soon as he disappeared, Silverpaw leapt to her paws. She lifted her chin and started prancing in a circle. When the she-cat noticed that everyone was staring at her, she paused mid-step and flattened her ears slightly.

Silverpaw's blue eyes widened in excitement as she exclaimed, "I get to have my mentor back!"

Taffy eyed her, one eyebrow raised. "Was it really _that_ bad without her?"

"Of course," Silverpaw huffed, rolling her eyes. "Hazeltail was _sooo annoying_! She said that you can't learn how to see in the dark! Like, how stupid is that- wait, what?" the silver apprentice glanced from Taffy to her brother and back in confusion. Flamepaw bit back a chuckle. Hazeltail was right behind her.

"Looks like _someone_ is going to be kept in camp for the rest of the day," the warrior commented. Silverpaw's face fell, before she scowled at her temporary mentor. "Ivypool might get out tomorrow, but I'm still your mentor for today."


	14. Chapter thirteen

"It's not fair," Silverpaw whined to the cat sitting next to her. Ivypool nodded and licked a forepaw, running it over her head in an attempt to get a tuft of fur down.

"I know," the warrior agreed. "Now neither of us can leave camp until tomorrow."

"And you don't even need to be here. Your wounds are just fine," Silverpaw meowed, poking her mentor's shoulder jokingly. Ivypool winced slightly.

"Well, they aren't _completely _healed," Ivypool admitted. "But what about you? You were only speaking the truth."

Silverpaw nodded. "You're a much better mentor than Hazeltail."

The silver and white warrior purred. "And don't you forget it."

"But now we're stuck here for the rest of the day," Silverpaw sighed.

Just then, Jayfeather pushed his way into the medicine cat den, carrying a small bundle of catmint.

"Quit your moaning," he snapped. "It's only for _half a day_. Tomorrow you two can mope together while you train."

Silverpaw grinned. "I agree. But you know what? We can also mope together today!"

"Mope outside," Jayfeather growled. "I have stuff to do."

"Fine," Silverpaw sniffed, standing up. Ivypool joined her, and together the two she-cats exited the medicine cat den. Just as they were about to find a spot to settle down, Bramblestar called a Clan meeting. Ivypool abruptly changed course with no trouble, heading to sit below the Highledge. Silverpaw, however, twisted and tripped over her paws, head colliding with the ground painfully.

"You alright?" a tom meowed, concern filling his voice. Silverpaw slowly raised her head to see Taffy.

"Yeah, fine," she mumbled, licking her chest fur. Her ear twitched embarassedly. _Not like I need a kittypet watching out for me. _The silver and white apprentice quickly padded over to sit in the crowd, head held high. To her annoyance, Taffy sat down right next to her. Silverpaw shuffed away from him, so that there was some space between them.

"What's wrong?" the kittypet asked, looking confused.

Silverpaw sighed and shook her head, muttering, "Nothing." _He's probably sticking with me since I'm the one who brought him here, _she thought. Just then, Bramblestar started talking. The silver apprentice suddenly noticed that his brown tabby pelt was covered in herbs. _Huh. Froststar must have hit pretty hard . . ._

"Cats of ThunderClan!" he began. "As you all know, BloodClan is back. What you may not know is that Taffy, a former BloodClan member, attemped to help us get inside information on their intentions. Unfortunately, he got caught, and we brought him back here." Cats started murmuring at this, some praising the kittypet's bravery, and others distrustful. "Today, I would like to extend an invitation to him to join ThunderClan as an apprentice." All heads turned to the ginger tabby, who was blinking in surprise. Silverpaw was curious as to his answer. If he accepted, she would have someone other than her brother her age in the Clan.

Taffy bit his lip and thought for a moment before answering, "Froststar tried to kill me. I'm so far from my housefolk that I'll never get back on my own. I haven't got anywhere else to go. If you would accept me, I would like to train in ThunderClan." The ginger tabby dipped his head to Bramblestar.

"Very well then," the ThunderClan leader nodded. "Step forward." Taffy did so, and the crowd parted to let him through to sit in front of the Highledge.

"Taffy, you have chosen to train in the ways of a warrior as one of our apprentices. From this day on, until you recieve your warrior name, you will be known as Emberpaw. Your mentor will be Whitewing, and I hope she will pass down all that she knows to you." The white she-cat weaved through her Clanmates to stand by the newly named Emberpaw. "Whitewing, you have have exellent training from your mentor, and have shown yourself to be patient and skillful."

Emberpaw turned to his new mentor excitedly and stretched his muzzle to reach hers. Whitewing smiled and they touched noses. Together, mentor and apprentice moved to stand at the side of the clearing. _I hope the Clan accepts him, _Silverpaw thought, worried. But from a quick glance around, most cats looked okay with the ginger tom being apprenticed. There were one or two who didn't look too happy, but that was all. Silverpaw nodded in satisfaction. _He tried to help us. And I guess he still can, if he remembers what he was told when he was in BloodClan. Besides, another apprentice is always welcomed. _

Silverpaw padded over to Ivypool, wanting to ask what they would be doing for the rest of the day. She found her mentor over by the fresh-kill pile, picking out a sparrow.

"So," Silverpaw started, "what are we doing now?"

Ivypool paused, one paw still clutching the sparrow. She furrowed her eyebrows and stared at her apprentice, apparently confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly.

"What do you think I mean?" the silver apprentice huffed. "What are we going to do for the rest of the day? Hunting? Fighting? What?"

Ivypool sighed and started picking feathers off her sparrow. "Forgotten already, or were you planning to sneak out of camp?"

Silverpaw was about to ask what she was talking about, when she suddenly remembered her punishment. Silverpaw groaned and sunk to the ground.

"Mousedung!" she hissed. Ivypool nodded and tore off a piece of her sparrow.

"You wanna eat?" the warrior asked once she had swallowed her mouthful.

Silverpaw nodded glumly and started sifting through the fresh-kill pile. She felt a surge of envy when she noticed Taffy and Whitewing heading out to train. _Not fair! I should be out there! _she thought furiously. _Hazeltail's so stupid. _

_Maybe you should get her back, _a voice suggested. Silverpaw turned the idea over in her head, mulling over the possibilities.

_Hmmm, yeah, _she decided. _But what to do . . . ? Has to be something that I can do while I'm stuck in camp, but not something that would harm her. Too much. _Silverpaw picked a vole and sat down to eat, thinking all the while. Half-way through, it came to her. The perfect prank.

Silverpaw grinned to herself. This would be payback indeed.


	15. Chapter fourteen

**Hey guys. Yeah, I've been away for awhile, haven't I? Stuff's been going down, but now I'm just getting back into the rhythm of writing again, so a short chapter here and then hopefully the regular Monday updates. **

**Silver's Fangs: Thanks! I like my user too :3**

**Crazy Fennec Fox: Cackling indeed. **

**Cinderlight: Maaaaaaaybe *shifts feet***

**Phoenixflame of ThunderClan: Cliffhangers!**

Flamepaw watched with narrowed eyes from across the clearing as his sister's blue eyes lit up with glee. _This can't be good . . . _he thought suspiciously. Silverpaw practically skipped back into the medicine cat den, grinning. _She's up to something alright. Silverpaw's been complaining about being confined to camp all day, and now she's _happily _going into the medicine cat den._

A moment later, Jayfeather padded out of the den, looking quite annoyed. He quickly trotted across the clearing and disappeared into the elder's den. _Hmm, a distraction maybe? I suppose I'd better go stop her before she gets into trouble . . ._

"Flamepaw!" Squirrelflight called. The orange apprentice snapped to attention and searched the clearing, trying to pinpoint the deputy. He finally spotted her underneath the Highledge, and gave a nod of acknowledgement before padding over to meet her.

"Patrol?" he guessed, sitting down. _Silverpaw can deal with the consequences . . ._

"Border," Squirrelflight confirmed, gesturing her tail towards a group of cats waiting at the camp entrance. "Cloudtail's leading, and you're going to the WindClan border." Flamepaw thanked her and scanned the patrol. There was Cloudtail, of course, Icecloud, Whitewing and Emberpaw. The ginger tabby looked ecstatic to get to go on his first patrol, and Flamepaw purred in amusement as Emberpaw jigged up and down excitedly.

Whitewing cuffed him over the ear good-naturedly, meowing, "Settle down, will you? You'll run out of energy to get to the border." Emberpaw smiled sheepishly and stayed still, ear twitching in embarrassment.

"Let's go," Cloudtail called, heading out without waiting for the rest of the patrol.

"Wait for me!" Emberpaw yelled, scampering after him. Whitewing sighed and shook her head, but followed after her apprentice. Flamepaw padded calmly out of the camp, leaving Icecloud to back up the patrol.

"Now, remember that we have to be on the lookout," Cloudtail started, directing the patrol towards the WindClan border. "BloodClan won't be happy about yesterday, and they might be waiting for us there. Long story short: don't go bounding off through the forest alone, or you might run into trouble." The white warrior directed his last words over his shoulder at Emberpaw, giving him a meaningful glance.

Emberpaw smiled brightly. "Don't worry," he purred. "I'll watch where I step - " the ginger tabby's sentence was cut short as he tripped over an unexpected bramble tendril and face-planted the ground. Whitewing quickly helped him back up, but luckily Emberpaw seemed unharmed.

Cloudtail rolled his eyes and continued walking, flicking his tail for everyone to follow. Emberpaw immediately bounded after him happily. Whitewing sighed.

"I think I may have my paws full with this one," she murmured. Icecloud nodded in agreement.

"He's certainly got energy."

Flamepaw left the two she-cats to talk and quickened his pace to catch up with the two toms.

"The forest is so big," Emberpaw meowed in amazement, looking around at the trees. "How do you know where to go?"

"We learnt," Cloudtail replied simply.

Emberpaw nodded slowly and resigned himself to watching his paws as he walked. Flamepaw caught up to him and matched his pace.

"So, liking ThunderClan so far?" he asked, trying to make small talk.

Emberpaw immediately brightened and nodded enthusiastically, meowing, "Yeah, I love it here! Takes a bit of getting used to at first, though, and I still kinda miss my housefolk, but I love the freedom that I get out here."

"It's certainly better than being locked up by twolegs," Flamepaw agreed. "What do you think of the cats here?"

"They're great!" Emberpaw beamed. "Silverpaw's been really nice to me especially."

Flamepaw raised an eyebrow in confusion. Silverpaw had seemed a bit annoyed with Emberpaw constantly shadowing her before. "That's good," he shrugged.

"Yeah! She's so funny, and also really pretty," the ex-kittypet sighed. Immediately his amber eyes widened and he blushed furiously, turning his head away.

Flamepaw's whiskers twitched in amusement. Was Emberpaw forming a crush on his sister already? He opened his jaws to ask the tabby apprentice about it, but was interrupted by a yowl.

"Icecloud!"

The two apprentices shared a quick glance, before they sprinted off in the direction of the noise. Before long, they found their mentors hunched together near a large bush.

"What happened?" Flamepaw asked, padding up to Cloudtail tentatively. His mentor didn't respond, so the orange apprentice peered over the white tom's shoulder to see what the commotion was about. His stomach churned.

Sprawled out under the bush was the body of a white she-cat, and with her eyes closed she looked like could have been sleeping, except her neck was bent at an unnatural angle and stained by blood. Flamepaw could also see a large, clean gash on her neck, similar to a wound that one would find on a piece of fresh-kill. _Icecloud. _

Flamepaw turned away hurriedly, sickened. How did she die if she was with two other warriors? And who killed her? Whitewing laid her tail across the orange tom's shoulders to comfort him and led him back to the group, where Emberpaw was now standing with wide eyes at the bush.

"What happened?" Emberpaw asked, a small tremor in his voice.

Cloudtail hung his head and replied, "She said that she heard something and went ahead to investigate. By the time we caught up with her . . . "

"Who did it?" Flamepaw asked, feeling a surge of anger towards Icecloud's attacker.

"We didn't get to see who killed her, and the cat's scent is covered by mud," Cloudtail explained, his mouth set in a grim line.

Flamepaw thought quickly, trying to piece together what he knew so far. The attacker either knew that Icecloud was heading toward them, or she surprised them and they overreacted. The latter, he thought, was highly unlikely due to the precision of the fatal cut. So, he concluded, the attacker had been lying in wait for a patrol to come by. This was also supported by the fact that the attacker had deliberately covered their scent. A passing loner or rouge wouldn't have done that.

_But that still doesn't tell me who, or why, _Flamepaw thought, frustrated. _Either way, I am going to figure out what's going on here. Two attacks by mysterious cats on ThunderClan, at least one on ShadowClan, and probably the same on the other Clans as well. These cats will most likely attack again, so the sooner we know who they are, the better._


	16. Chapter fifteen

**Hey. Right now it is the summer holidays for me, so I get eight whole weeks to write. Hopefully, this will give me time to get back on track, so that I can keep updating. Thanks once again to all of those who review, especially those who follow the story. You guys keep insipring me to find time to write! **

Silverpaw stared wide-eyed in shock at the body draped across Cloudtail's back.

_Icecloud's dead? I bet it was those rouges again. _

Confusion and hurt quickly gave way to anger as she saw Foxleap consoling Ferncloud, who was fighting back tears.

_A life for a life_, said a small voice inside of Silverpaw. _All of this is your fault. You think Icecloud's death was unfair? What about the family of the rouge _you _killed? _

_This is your fault. All of this is your fault, and now it's up to you to fix it._

_But how? _she asked herself, pacing in front of the apprentice's den. She furrowed her eyebrows in concentration as she tried to come up with a solution. _These rouges aren't going to go away. They are just going to keep coming for us, and it's obvious that they're looking for a fight. _

_So I'll give them one._

With a quick look around to check that no-one was watching her, Silverpaw swiftly trotted out of camp. Once she was out into the forest, she headed for the WindClan border as quickly as possible without seeming suspicious to anyone passing by. Silverpaw moved nimbly and carefully through the undergrowth, ducking or diving into a nearby bush if she heard any other cats. She felt like she was playing a gigantic game of hide-and-seek, except this time she didn't quite know if she was hiding or seeking.

Maybe she was both. All she knew for sure was that she had to find these rouges and give them a message that they wouldn't forget. Once the stream that marked the border with WindClan came into view, Silverpaw started to head upwards, toward no-cat's land. Based on her knowledge of the attacks that had happened so far, it seemed like this was the direction that they came from.

Before long, Silverpaw heard voices, one of which she recognised as a rouge's. She quickly hid in a large bush and listened.

"Did you hear what Blue did this morning?" someone asked.

"I think so," a second cat answered. "He ran into a Clan cat, right? And then he killed them." Silverpaw had to bite her tongue to suppress an angry hiss. _So. His name's Blue, huh? I guess he can wait for later . . ._

The first cat laughed. "Yeah, he did. It'll show them for trying to scare us. They might have beaten us the first time, but now we are better prepared."

"Has anyone seen the Storm again?" the second rouge meowed suddenly. They sounded nervous when they asked this, something which Silverpaw took note of.

"No . . . It's weird though. I thought that the Clan cats weren't supposed to kill. Something about a 'code' or whatever," the first cat mused. _Who is this Storm? A Clan cat who kills? Then why don't they have a Clan name? _Silverpaw thought, her head filled with unanswered questions. _But you killed_, the voice reminded her. _And you're a Clan cat. _

"Yeah. All I know is that I don't want to run into her. According to the cats who were there, she was fierce. _Different_."

The first cat _hmm_ed his agreement. Silverpaw tensed up, their two sets of paws coming into her view now. The casual way that they were walking through _her _territory infuriated her. _Can't they just go back to where they came from and stay away?_ Anger quickly welled up inside of Silverpaw as she thought about Icecloud. Soon, her vision was clouded with red and she leapt out of the bush and onto a cat.

"The Storm!" was the last thing she remembered one cat screech in fear before she lost control.

oOo

Silverpaw blinked a few times and shook her head to clear her mind. The strong metallic scent of blood hit her nose straight away, making her gag. Looking down, she was shocked to see two torn bodies. Silverpaw groaned and turned to retch into a clump of ferns.

_What happened? _she thought to herself, confused and sore. Catching a glimpse of her paw, she was horrified to see that it was tainted red with half-dried blood.

Suddenly, it all came crashing back to her. _I killed them. I was the Storm they were talking about. I'm a monster._ Silverpaw collapsed onto the ground and started sobbing. _Why did I kill them? I never really wanted to. I only meant to have a small fight. What would my Clanmates think of me now? _

Silverpaw was torn back to reality when she heard someone approaching. Her head shot up in panic and she bolted away from the scene. _I can't let them catch me here!_ In her wild flight, her pelt got snagged on a thorn bush. Silverpaw frantically tore herself free, but the searing pain of leaving a clump of fur behind made her wince.

Speeding back down into the heart of ThunderClan territory, Silverpaw decided to head to the lake to wash her paws. As she ran, she prayed to StarClan that no-one from her Clan had spotted her.

Once the lake was in sight, Silverpaw didn't even bother slowing down and ran right into the waves. The icy cold water enveloped her in greeting, and Silverpaw fell right into it happily. The silver apprentice let herself float for a few minutes, before standing up and grooming herself properly. When she was satisfied that her paws had returned to being as white as she could make them, Silverpaw started to head back to camp.

Upon her arrival, Silverpaw headed straight for the apprentice's den. Just as she was about to enter, a silver flash blocked her path.

"Where have you been?" Ivypool demanded. _Mousedung, _Silverpaw thought. _What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, just out killing cats'?_

"Uh, I needed some fresh air," Silverpaw stuttered, turning her gaze down to her paws.

"I didn't know that fresh air meant fresh water," Ivypool meowed slyly, raising an eyebrow. Silverpaw internally cursed her still-damp pelt as she struggled to find a comeback.

"W-well, I just . . . went to get a drink," she started, "and . . . and I fell in by accident." _Yeah, real smooth. That sounds like something your brother would do. _

Ivypool sighed and gave her apprentice a condensending 'I-can't-believe-I-have-to-mentor-this-cat' look. "At least you're here now. We're late for battle practice with Emberpaw and Whitewing."

Silverpaw's eyes shot open and she gulped hard. _Battle practice? But . . ._

"What?" Ivypool smirked, pushing her muzzle closer to her apprentice. "Scared that the kittypet will beat you?" she challenged.

Silverpaw frowned in frustration, half-way between panic and indignation. "No, of course not. I'm just . . . " Suddenly, an idea came to her. "I'm just worried that I'll hurt him by accident," she finished sweetly. _Funny, that's actually the truth. _

Ivypool nodded in approval and turned to leave camp. Silverpaw trotted after her, worry still worming its way into her stomach.

The pair quickly made their way to the training ground in silence. When they arrived, Emberpaw and Whitewing were already doing drills. They stopped as soon as they saw the silver she-cats and padded up to greet them.

"Good afternoon Ivypool," Whitewing greeted, tilting her head.

"Hey Silverpaw!" Emberpaw mewed brightly, bounding along beside his mentor. "You ready for some training?" _Haha no because I might accidentally kill you._

Silverpaw forced a smile and replied with a, "Yeah!" Emberpaw beamed at her apparent enthusiasm and beckoned for her to come out into the clearing. Whitewing and Ivypool sat down together a safe distance from the sandy arena and watched their apprentices expectantly.

Silverpaw breathed out slowly to calm herself and settled into a fighting stance. She focused her gaze on her opponent, who was still fizzing with energy as he tried to mimick her.

"Go!" Whitewing ordered, nodding. Immediately, Emberpaw sprang forward and brought out a swipe with his front paw. Silverpaw easily ducked it, smirking. _This will be too easy. _She darted forward under his belly and brought her head up, effectively flipping him head over tail. Emberpaw landed on the ground with a respectable _thud_, but quickly got back on his paws again.

Silverpaw turned around to face him again, but she was met with a hefty blow in the muzzle. It didn't sting, because no claws were used in training, but to Silverpaw's horror it was enough to bring back a familiar rage. The silver apprentice struggled to keep herself calm and clear as her vision became increasingly redder. Another blow made it almost impossible to concentrate anymore, and Silverpaw knew that she had to do something quickly if she didn't want to hurt Emberpaw.

In a split second decision, Silverpaw sprinted out of the clearing and into the forest. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the yowls of her Clanmates behind her.

_What's happening to me? _she thought desperately.


	17. Chapter sixteen

"-and so today I got to train with Silverpaw, I was so excited but then Whitewing and I got there and I was all like, 'where is she?' and Whitewing was like, 'we only just got here and they're probably on their way' and I was so annoyed and bored because we had to train by ourselves for aaaages." Flamepaw let out a small sigh and tried to keep his tail from flicking around in agitation. _Does he ever stop talking? _he thought exasperatedly.

_"_Then they finally came but Silverpaw had her 'thinking about deep stuff' face on, uh, not that I've memorised her facial expressions or whatever . . . I was all cool about it and just thought maybe she was having a bad day or whatever but she still looks really cute when she's in a weird mood so I didn't mind-" At that point, Flamepaw shut out Emberpaw's voice and pushed past him to enter the apprentices' den. He quickly curled up in his nest and covered his ears with his paws to keep out the noise.

To the orange tom's dismay, Emberpaw followed him right in and kept recounting his training session with his crush. _At first, this was cute, but now I just feel halfway between sorry for him and wanting to yell at him to shut up about Silverpaw. I've seen the way that she looks at him, and I can safely conclude that she doesn't like him back. Emberpaw can't seem to tell though, I think his skull is too thick. _Suddenly, Flamepaw was brought back to reality by something Emberpaw said.

"Wait, can you repeat that?" Flamepaw asked, sitting up.

Emberpaw looked pleased that his fellow apprentice had shown interest in his ramblings and happily answered, "I said that she was really good at fighting and knew some pretty advanced moves, like the flip she used in training."

"No, after that," Flamepaw frowned.

"Then she ran off?" Emberpaw guessed, tilting his head to one side.

Flamepaw's eyes widened in panic as he asked, "Why did she do that? Has she come back?"

"I don't know and no," Emberpaw meowed, biting his lower lip nervously.

_This can't be good . . . "_Let's go find her," Flamepaw announced, heaving himself to his paws.

Emberpaw nodded in agreement and quickly led the way out of the den. The two apprentices made their way across the camp and were just about to duck out the entrance when they ran into a cat.

"Silverpaw!" Emberpaw exclaimed, breaking into a broad smile. "Where have you been?"

Silverpaw glanced at him for a moment, before lowering her head and trotting across the camp to the the apprentices' den.

Flamepaw narrowed his eyes suspiciously. _Okay, something's up. If she isn't in the mood to talk, I'll have to ask someone else for answers. _As the orange tom turned to find Ivypool, he saw Emberpaw chase after Silverpaw out of the corner of his eye. _Well, points to him for trying, but he's going to need all of StarClan on his side if he still hopes that she will confide in him. _

A flash of silver suddenly caught Flamepaw's attention, and he quickly scurried to catch up to Ivypool. The apprentice side-stepped around his sister's mentor to intercept her and stared determinedly into Ivypool's troubled gaze.

"What's wrong with Silverpaw?" he demanded, wasting no time with small talk. Ivypool blinked a few times in surprise and looked down at Flamepaw sympathetically.

"I know she's your sister, but I can't tell you right now," she answered. "Just give her a bit of space, and try not to press the issue or . . . upset her," Ivypool finished, a small wry smirk betraying her somber expression.

"Why shouldn't I upset her?" Flamepaw asked suspiciously.

"Hey, did you hear what happened to Hazeltail today?" Ivypool meowed, changing the topic suddenly. Flamepaw gave her his best 'not buying it' face, but couldn't ignore the spark of curiosity that had formed at her words.

"What?" the orange tom asked through slightly gritted teeth. _I'll ask about Silverpaw again later._

Ivypool's eyes flooded with relief as she answered, "She ate a bad mouse yesterday, and has to stay in camp today. The only thing is, at the same time some herbs went missing from Jayfeather's stock. He was worried, because if you eat them and you're not sick you can get a bad bellyache. I wonder what happened," she laughed.

Despite himself, Flamepaw purred. _Silverpaw happened. _Suddenly, a wail came from the nursery. Ruffled heads poked out of dens in curiosity all over the camp. Bumblestripe sprinted out of the nursery and into the medicine cat den. The low murmur of chatter started as more and more cats became aware of what was happening. _Dovewing must be having her kits, _Flamepaw thought. _Hmm, at least it isn't quite dark yet. Then she would have woken everyone up. _

Flamepaw trotted over to the apprentices' den, forgetting to ask about his sister. Emberpaw was sitting next to Silverpaw, the former was trying to make conversation and the latter was curled up in her nest.

"What's going on outside?" Emberpaw asked, turning to face Flamepaw.

The orange tom simply replied, "Dovewing's kitting," and headed to his own nest. Flicking his tail over his ears, he managed to block out most of Emberpaw's talking. After a few minutes, he went to sleep as well, and Flamepaw heard soft snoring noises coming from Silverpaw's direction. Soon, he also fell asleep.

oOo

Flamepaw opened his eyes to see that he was standing in a clearing. Four tall oak trees stood around it, and a large stone sat in the middle. _Where am I? _Suddenly, he saw another cat enter the clearing from the other side.

"Silverpaw!" he yowled. His sister looked relieved to see him and bounded over.

"What's happening?" she asked breathlessly. Before Flamepaw could tell her that he didn't know, a voice came from behind him.

"You're in StarClan," it answered. Flamepaw whirled around to see a starry-pelted cat. He was ginger in colour, and had bold green eyes. The way he held himself told Flamepaw he was a leader. Or, at least he had been when he was alive. The StarClan tom looked familiar, but the orange apprentice couldn't quite figure out why.

"My name is Firestar, but you won't know me," Firestar explained. "I died just before your mother became a queen, and your father is my grandkit." _Firestar! I remember now. He was the greatest leader that ThunderClan has ever had! _

_"_Why are you here?" Silverpaw asked flatly, seemingly not amazed by beng in the presence of a hero.

"To warn you," Firestar meowed, "and to fully explain what has been happening. Right now, two cats from each clan are being kidnapped." _Say what now? _Part of Flamepaw wanted to wake up and stop this from occurring, but he knew that it was impossible to make it in time. Also, he had the feeling that Firestar wasn't done with the surprises yet. "Now, before I tell you the rest, I must ask one thing. Don't interrupt, and don't ask questions."

"That's two things!" Silverpaw pointed out.

Firestar sighed and shook his head. "That doesn't matter. Anyway. BloodClan will hold these cats for all of leafbare. They are planning to demand a fifth of each Clan's prey, in exchange for the eight cats' lives when newleaf starts. Of course, the leaders won't want to accept. But we need you to convince them to agree, or BloodClan _will_ start killing hostages. Normally, StarClan wouldn't intervene in such a matter, but we have seen glimpses of the future.

This is only the beginning. If you do not get the Clans to agree to their terms, cats will die and a terrible war will start. If you do get the Clans to agree, there will be a few moons where BloodClan will get lazy. When leafbare is at its worst, however, they will start launching more raids on the Clans until they are too weak to fight back when BloodClan takes over the forest. A coward's plan, but it will be an effective one. The only way to stop this is during that window of time before the raids.

To make sure that BloodClan does not get suspicious, most of the Clan should continue hunting for them as usual. Two apprentices from each Clan will go on an infiltration mission. Find the hostages, break them out, and get out of there while all four Clans launch a surprise attack together."

"You StarClan cats seem to have thought this through pretty well," Flamepaw remarked.

Firestar flicked his ears in embarrassment and replied, "Well, this is a matter of the end of the Clans. Act too early, and risk death and a war. Act too late, and risk death and enslavement. We have chosen eight cats to save everyone from this fate. You two are ThunderClan's cats, of course, but you will know who the others are when you see them. The Gathering is tomorrow. Think fast and you will succeed in your endeavours." With that, Firestar started to fade away.

"Wait!" Silverpaw yowled desperately. "What about Storm?" She collapsed on the ground and started sobbing quietly. Flamepaw strained his ears to hear Firestar's barely audible response.

"You have to decide."


	18. Chapter seventeen

**Hello everybody! I'm back, and . . . Apparently holidays give you inspiration to write more. Well, in any case, this chapter introduces some new characters, and I hope I've done okay with describing them.**

Silverpaw woke with a start, panting hard. Her heart was still racing from her dream, so she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Silverpaw," a cat whispered from somewhere in the den. "What storm were you talking about before? Is there going to be bad weather?" Her chest tightened painfully as she remembered what had happened. _He didn't answer me. Well, he kind of did. I have to decide? Those words sound familiar, but I can't think of why . . ._ "Silverpaw!" Flamepaw hissed quietly. The silver she-cat jerked her head up apologetically and nodded to show she was listening. Her brother shook his head and purred softly. Silverpaw felt a smile tug at her lips, but repressed it.

"Wake up!" Blossomfall called, poking her head in. Her eyes were wide with panic, and Silverpaw suddenly remembered what Firestar had warned them about. _We have to make sure that Bramblestar doesn't do anything about the kidnappings! _A quick look at Flamepaw confirmed that he remembered as well. Emberpaw stirred in his nest, groaning loudly.

"Why do we have to be up?" he complained. "It's basically moonhigh!"

Blossomfall stamped her foot impatiently. "Foxleap and Rosepetal have been dragged off by rouges! Bramblestar has called a Clan meeting to organise a rescue patrol, but didn't want to alert the rouges by yelling. Get up!" Silverpaw shot up and raced outside, Flamepaw on her heels. _Surely Bramblestar will listen to us. We just have to talk to him before he sends out cats. Ah, and what about the other Clans? What if they send patrols? Hmm . . . I suppose all I can do for now is just focus on our Clan. _

Outside, Bramblestar was standing on the Highledge. Cats were quickly assembling around him, so Silverpaw put on an extra burst of speed.

"Bramblestar!" she yowled once she reached the bottom of the small rock cliff. The ThunderClan leader looked around for a few moments before spotting her, a confused look on his face. Climbing up, she continued to project her voice. "We need to tell you something! It's about the kidnappings! Don't send out a patrol!" When she scrambled over the edge of the cliff, Silverpaw stood up quickly and faced her leader with Flamepaw soon by her side.

"This is important Silverpaw," Bramblestar meowed, an edge to his voice. "I can listen to you later."

"No," Silverpaw said, putting her paw down stubbornly. "We had a dream from Firestar. He said not to send out a patrol."

Bramblestar's eyes widened at the name, but a shadow of indecision crossed his face. "Let's go into my den. Don't make it long." The leader looked back at his Clan and told them he would be back in a moment, before trotting into his den.

Silverpaw nodded and followed the brown tabby into the small cave. Together, Flamepaw and her quickly explained what Firestar had told them. Bramblestar thought about it for a few moments, before nodding slowly.

"Squirrelflight seems to be convinced that Jayfeather's vision was about you two, and it seems likely that it is. This might be what it was preparing us for. Silver fire will save the Clans from an old enemy . . ." he mused.

Flamepaw flicked his ear in embarrassment, meowing, "Well, we _are_ only going to be two of eight."

"Speaking of, tomorrow is the Gathering," Bramblestar said. "You two will be going, of course. You will have that night to find the other apprentices, and if what you said is true then it will be the night where BloodClan makes their demands. I'll visit the other leaders tomorrow morning to talk to them."

"Thank you for listening to us," Flamepaw replied, lowering his head in respect. Bramblestar nodded in acknowledgment and started to exit the den.

"One last thing!" Silverpaw called. "The other Clans might send out patrols. We need to find a way to stop them." The ThunderClan leader flicked his tail in response and disappeared from view.

The two siblings left the den and jumped down from the Highledge. A few cats gave them curious looks, but Silverpaw met their stares evenly. To the silver she-cat's dismay, Flamepaw headed over to where Emberpaw was sitting. She reluctantly followed him, but made sure to put her brother between herself and the orange tabby. Silverpaw focused her attention to the Highledge as Bramblestar began his announcement.

"Cats of ThunderClan! Foxleap and Rosepetal have been kidnapped. According to Jayfeather," Bramblestar looked at the medicine cat briefly, "they were at the lake when they were ambushed. The kidnappers will be headed up through our territory, back to BloodClan's ground. We are not sending out a rescue patrol, " at this, cats started yowling in disagreement. Silverpaw flattened her ears at all of the clamour, relieved when Bramblestar's yowl for attention received silence.

"We are _not_ sending out a rescue patrol," he repeated, "but rather a patrol to stop the other Clans from attacking the kidnappers. We have reason to believe that BloodClan is behind these kidnappings, and a dream from StarClan has warned us that war will break out if we attack them now. They have told us to wait for the right opportunity, or a disastrous fate awaits the Clans. A group of our cats will wait at the border for any rescue patrols, and then deflect them back to here, where I will speak to them."

Looking around, most cats seemed content with this explanation. A few looked ready to fight still, but Silverpaw was sure that they trusted their leader's word. _I can only hope it will be this easy to persuade the other Clans . . . _

Bramblestar waited a few moment for the information to sink in before announcing, _"_The cats going out with Squirrelflight are; Brackenfur, Hazeltail, Cinderpelt, Bumblestripe, Ivypool, Whitewing and Poppyfrost. The rest of us will stay in camp until further notice."

Silverpaw breathed out a sigh of relief. _Now I can just focus on what I'm going to do at the Gathering._

oOo

Silverpaw jumped up nimbly onto the tree bridge, waiting there for a moment to collect her balance before continuing. She tried not to look downwards, stomach churning at the thought of the dark waters below her. Silverpaw kept her gaze fixed firmly on the opposite bank and put one paw forward. Within a heartbeat of it landing on the rough bark, a splash of water leapt up and soaked it. Swallowing the rising panic, Silverpaw hurried across the bridge and onto dry land again.

_I don't know how those RiverClan cats do it. Swimming in water . . . In the lake itself, even! What if they get swept away into the middle of it? They'll get tired after awhile, and then start to sink, and their airways will fill with disgusting salty water . . . _Silverpaw shuddered at the thought, pressing on toward the Gathering area.

Once she pushed aside the last bush in her way, Silverpaw started to search for the apprentices. To her anger, she saw that the BloodClan cats were back again. _I hope they don't make this more complicated than it needs to be. _Suddenly, a cat appeared at her side.

"Go talk with the apprentices," Bramblestar murmured, leaning close to her ear as he passed by. "I'll give you some time to convince them." With that, he picked up his pace again and headed for the Great Oak. Silverpaw nodded to herself, walking over to where she spotted her brother's easily recognisable pelt. To her surprise, he had already found the others. She remembered Heronpaw, Stoatpaw and the WindClan siblings, but two more unfamiliar cats were with them. Identifying them by scent, one was ShadowClan and the other RiverClan. _That's good. At least none of them are BloodClan. _

The RiverClan cat was the one she noticed first. A pale brown she-cat, she held herself in a extremely similiar manner to Heronpaw. The difference, however, was in her eyes. While also carefully guarded, they held a challenging gleam to them. Compared to Heronpaw's unfriendly and stoic expression, the she-cat seemed like she was the type to confidently argue about whatever disagreement she held with other cats.

The ShadowClan she-cat, however, was only noticeable because her pelt colour vastly differed from her Clanmate's. From over Stoatpaw's ginger shoulder, Silverpaw could see a spiky gray head. Her light blue eyes darted from cat to cat, never resting in one place for too long.

"Everyone, this is my sister Silverpaw," Flamepaw introduced.

"We've met, mousebrain," Crouchpaw drawled. Larkpaw lightly cuffed his ear, muttering something incomprehensible.

Flamepaw flicked his ear, something Silverpaw recognised as his embarrassed habit. "I was talking to Mistpaw and Curlpaw."

"Nice to meet ya, Silverpaw," the RiverClan she-cat meowed, nodding to her. Silverpaw blinked at her informal-sounding language.

"You al'ight?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "I know my fur's messy, but ya don't hafta stare." Silverpaw shook her head, mortified.

"I'm sorry," she apologised. "I was just surprised by your . . . accent."

The RiverClan she-cat smirked. "Lotta cats are. RiverClanners are used to it by now, but 'parently no-one else's seen a horseplace cat with a different waya speakin'." She paused for a moment, sobering. "Anyway. Nuff 'bout me. Are you part of our lil' group?"

"Little what?" Silverpaw spluttered, struggling to keep up with what the RiverClan cat was saying.

Flamepaw nudged her shoulder, whispering, "Curlpaw's had the dream too. All of us have, actually. I think this is who Firestar was talking about."

Silverpaw's eyes widened. _Surely it wouldn't be this easy to find all of us. _ Out loud, she asked, "Does everyone here know what we have to do?"

The ShadowClan she-cat, who Silverpaw deducted must be Mistpaw, spoke up. She took a step away from Stoatpaw, meowing quietly, "Nightstar said to us that we all had an important part to play. But I'm not sure how I could help in a rescue mission. I'm not good at fighting."

Silverpaw wasn't surprised. Mistpaw didn't seem like a battle-hungry type. Stoatpaw smiled encouragingly at her.

"Maybe not, but you're a brilliant actor," he pointed out. "Remember that time when Ivytail interrogated you about the extra piece of prey which she saw your brother take? Even though Sparrowpaw had taken one before and then come back to the pile while she was watching, you managed to confuse her enough to make her question what she saw. That's not something everyone can do." Mistpaw gave a tentative smile, shrugging.

"So," Heronpaw interrupted, "we need to set a date. To make a plan."

"Two moons," Flamepaw suggested. "Then in three moons we strike."

Curlpaw nodded, grinning broadly. "Sound s'like a real detailed plan we got there."

Crouchpaw glared at her. "Shut up."

Suddenly, an unfamiliar cat joined the group. They were completely white, except for one orange paw.

"Is this where the apprentices are at?" she asked, sitting down next to Flamepaw. "Father told me to go make friends with the cats my own age," she sniffed. "I don't see why I should bother though. Let me introduce myself. Snowpaw of BloodClan. Daughter of Froststar himself."

Noticing how pretty Snowpaw was, Silverpaw half expected Stoatpaw to start flattering her. Sneaking a quick look at the ShadowClan tom, she was slightly surprised to see him with a cold look on his face.

"Did we invite you here?" Crouchpaw growled, fluffing up his fur defensively.

"Well, no," Snowpaw considered, tilting her head delicately. "But I don't need your approval to do anything. Father said that I can have anything I want, because the other Clans are all weak. We can just take whatever we want."

"Oh _reeeally_ now?" Curlpaw smirked. "'Coz last time I checked, there was four of us Clans, and one of you rouge groups. Doesn't sound like too good odds now, does it?"

Snowpaw matched her smirk, flinging back, "At least my _Clan _isn't afraid to fight and take what they want! You underestimate us. Just wait, once this Gathering is over you'll all be grovelling to us!" _She's talking about the ransom. Ugh, the leaders are going to have to accept, aren't they? Although it won't be for the reasons that they expect, Snowpaw's still going to get to gloat. _Suddenly, and idea came to Silverpaw. She let herself have a small grin before forcing her expression into one of admiration.

Silverpaw gave a fake gasp and meowed, "Oh! Well, in that case, _Froststar's daughter_, I apologise."

"You should," Snowpaw snapped. "Because when Froststar has all of the Clans, I'm going to overthrow him." Her voice took on a lighter tone as she continued, "Would you like to join me? You would be well taken care of."

"No," Crouchpaw immediately answered. Snowpaw bristled, her face turning dark. Silverpaw nudged the black tom subtly, flahing him a warning look. _This could be our way to get BloodClan to destroy itself._

"What my friend here meant," Silverpaw meowed through gritted teeth, "was that he wasn't sure if you could take care of us. We want you to prove that you have enough cats in your Clan on your side to win."

Snowpaw flattened her fur, but narrowed her eyes. "I don't have to prove anything to you. By the end of this Gathering, you'll be subservient to _me_. My father may think he has everyone under his control, but I'll show him. In three sunrises, I propose a bet: we have little battle between us, and whoever looses has to acknowledge the other's supremacy. Silverpaw, since you seem so eager, I'll fight _you_. Be at the WindClan - ThunderClan border at moonhigh. Just you and me, no-one else. Got it?"

Silverpaw lifted up her chin and weaved around Snowpaw, replying darkly, "I've got it. Are you sure you want to fight me? I have a bit of a . . . _reputation_ among your Clanmates," she hissed menacingly into her ear. "If you're not careful, you might just get blown away by my storm of attacks."

Snowpaw turned her head slowly to look at Silverpaw. A wild light filled her eyes as she grinned broadly.

"Oh, I look forward to it," she purred, leaning close to Silverpaw. "Storm."


	19. Chapter eighteen

**Hello everyone! Two more weeks of summer holidays left! For me, this is most definitely a win-lose situation since I get less free time to write but I get school . . . Yes I know I'm a weirdo for liking school. I get learning withdrawals over the holidays. Anyway, that just means that next week will be the last 'holiday' update, because once school starts I need to get into routine and figure out if I can still do weekly updates or just fortnightly.**

**Thanks to people who have been reviewing, you guys help me know that this story is still wanted. Also thanks to Shard, my beta, because without them I would have a lot more spelling mistakes in my story (my writing tool doesn't have a ~~ under misspelt words like Word does). Enjoy! **

Flamepaw watched his sister bristle at something that Snowpaw had said into her ear, ready to jump to her defense at the first sign of a battle breaking out. Just as he was about to intervene, Stoatpaw weaved his way in between the two she-cats and quickly calmed them down. Mistpaw looked uneasy that she was able to be seen again, and ducked behind the nearest cat. Heronpaw twisted his head backwards to look at her, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Attention everyone!" Onestar yowled. All heads swivelled to look at the Great Oak, the noise of chatter in the clearing instantly dying. "The Gathering is about to begin!"

Mistystar spoke first. "RiverClan is doing well. We have apprenticed two new cats, Curlpaw and Podpaw, who we are sure will become strong warriors in no time. They will be a welcome addition to our mighty ranks. A new queen has moved into the nursery, Mosspelt, and her kits will be due soon. The fish are in abundance this season, and we are stronger than ever."

Flamepelt internally sighed at the show-offy style that was often over-used by leaders who wanted to impress or intimidate. He tuned out uninterestedly as the other leaders announced their news. However, when Froststar's turn came, he snapped back to attention.

"As you may or may not have noticed," the white tom drawled, "two cats from each of your Clans have not been seen since last night. I'm surprised that you're all too self-concious to report it, so I will. I took these cats, against their will, and they are now under guard in a secret place in our territory."

"What?" Blackstar snarled. Flamepaw could tell that he was only faking surprise, because the other leaders only offered half-hearted gasps. _At least he knows how to act like he's angry. That's one good thing. _"Give our warriors back!"

Froststar smirked. "Okay. I'll give them back at the first thaw. How about that? But first, you have to do something for me. One of every five pieces of prey that your Clan catches belongs to BloodClan all throughout leafbare. If you do not agree, or try to trick me, I will start killing the hostages. So, what will it be?"

Blackstar raised his hackles, but then flattened them and turned his head away dramatically. "Fine," he muttered. Flamepaw almost purred in amusement at his submissive act, but caught himself when he remembered that Snowpaw was still right beside him.

Mistystar sighed, but nodded. Onestar flicked his tail and nodded as well, along with Bramblestar.

"I don't want my cats to get hurt," the ThunderClan leader meowed. The cats in the crowd started yowling their disagreement.

"We can fight them!" Thornclaw growled.

"We aren't cowards!" Blossomfall yelled.

Bramblestar raised a tail for silence. "A Clan leader's word is final."

"I must say," Froststar meowed slyly, "I didn't expect you to accept so quickly. From what I've heard of you, you're fighters. Nevermind. Every day we will expect our share of the prey. WindClan, your food should arrive at sunrise. RiverClan, before sunhigh, ShadowClan, after sunhigh, and ThunderClan at sundown. Is that all clear?" The other four leaders mumbled their assent, Blackstar in particular shooting a glance at Bramblestar. Without any further talk, they all leapt down from the Great Oak and started to mingle once again with the other cats._Hmm. This is quite clever, actually, _Flamepaw mused._ This way, BloodClan gets food delivered all day long. Their warriors can eat whenever they want, and then spend all of their time practicing battle moves. We, on the other paw, will have less food than usual in a time where prey is already running slowly._

"Ha!" _StarClan, will you forgive me if I give in to the urge to claw her mousebrained muzzle off?_

"I told you so!" Snowpaw sneered. "Your leaders are even weaker than expected. They accepted straight away, the fools."

"Oh shut up, you piece of foxdung," Crouchpaw growled. "No-one cares if you want to be the leader of that band of rouges you dare to call a Clan."

Snowpaw's eyes flashed dangerously. "Are you implying that you think that my Clan is weak? That I'm not fit to lead them?"

"Yes," the WindClan tom deadpanned.

"I am not like my mother!" she screeched. "I am not her, and I am better than my father! I'll teach you to say such things!" With that, she leapt for Crouchpaw, claws extended. Heronpaw quickly intercepted, effectively blocking her blow with a swift paw. In one motion, he flipped her over and pinned her down. A few cats nearby looked concerned at the commotion, coming over to investigate.

"It's okay," Heronpaw reassured. "I was just demonstrating a fishing move."

A tom that smelled of RiverClan nodded in understanding. "Ah yes. That's the one that we use for the bigger fish. It works quite well on cats, too." _Oh wow. That was an actual hunting technique? I'm impressed. _That explanation seemed to satisfy the cats around, and the apprentices were soon left alone again.

Crouchpaw stalked over to the boiling she-cat, a dark look on his face. "You should be grateful for the parents you have."

"And what would you know?" Snowpaw snarled back, writhing in Heronpaw's grip.

"My mother died a few days after we were born due to an illness. I can't even remember what she looks like," Crouchpaw spat. "We were adopted by a queen who cared for her own kits more than us, and the only cat who truly loved us was our father. But the day before we became apprentices, he was killed while investigating a fox den. Do you know how hard that was? I -"

"Crouchpaw," Larkpaw intercepted, a note of warning in her meow. Flamepaw noted with shock that her voice didn't contain her usual light-heartedness. The grey she-cat's eyes were careful and guarded. "Stop complaining about our life to strangers. The Clan has been very supportive of us, and our father died a hero. There are cats who care for you. It's fine."

"And you!" Crouchpaw accused, rounding on his sister. "You didn't even grieve for them! You just hid behind your ditzy mask and ignored everything that happened to us as if it's all somehow okay if we just 'stay positive'! Why can't you ever see anything for what it is?"

Larkpaw opened her mouth to reply, but then sighed. She turned away from the group and walked off without another word.

_Who would have guessed? _Flamepaw thought, watching, stunned, as Crouchpaw, conflicted, decided to hurry after his sister. _Larkpaw's happy-go-lucky attitude is all an act. _

"What was that all 'bout?" Curlpaw asked confusedly.

Heronpaw glared down at Snowpaw, shoving her away. "I think you've overstayed your welcome." Snowpaw sat up, giving her chest a few quick licks. Sauntering away, she _hmmph_ed haughtily and made sure that her tail hit Heronpaw in the face on her way past. The RiverClan tom spluttered and sneezed once, shaking his head vigorously.

"Mousebrained fluffy tail," he meowed, sneezing again. Heronpaw screwed up his face, adding, "Got up my nose and made me sneeze."

"Are you okay?" Mistpaw asked softly, coming over to inspect.

Heronpaw leaned back instinctively, turning his head away and gruffly edging out a 'fine'. Mistpaw squeaked apologetically and scurried back to Stoatpaw.

"I'm sorry," she meowed. "Did I hurt you? I'm not very good with knowing how to talk to cats properly." Mistpaw looked up anxiously at Stoatpaw. "What did I do wrong?"

The orange tom purred, reassuring, "You did nothing wrong. Heronpaw was just surprised." This didn't seem to help Mistpaw much, as she still shot a worried look at Heronpaw.

_If you didn't know any better, you'd say that those two are siblings. Stoatpaw certainly treats her like family, and she seems to rely on him, _Flamepaw observed. He watched as Stoatpaw touched his nose to Mistpaw's shoulder gently to calm her down. The soft light in his eyes when he looked at her was familiar to Flamepaw, but he didn't know why. _He obviously cares for her, but if she's so shy, why isn't she with a sibling or parent? And why does he put up with a socially insecure she-cat clinging to him?_

_It seems like there is more to all of us than it first seemed._


	20. Chapter nineteen

**Thanks muchly to the people who have been reviewing this story, and especially to the people who checking back. A small note at the bottom is important, but it contains minor spoilers (kinda) for this chapter.**

**UPDATE: A guest told me that Lionblaze and Squirrelflight already have canon kits. Shortly, I know. If you have a look at the timestamp on this story, you would see that I started this before the manga existed. Actually, I started this before Bramblestar's Storm was even announced. This is now classified as an AU, but at the time it was a continuation of canon.**

_She knows. _

_She knows who I am. She knows what I've done. She knows everything . . . somehow._

_She knows._

That phrase hammered itself into Silverpaw's mind over and over as she left the Gathering with her Clanmates. Climbing onto the log that was used to get off the island, she thought about the battle ahead.

_How am I supposed to fight her? What if I kill her, like the others? _she worried.

_She deserves it. She is a threat to us and to the Clan._

Silverpaw jumped, not expecting the voice in her head. A paw slipped off the side of the tree-bridge, making her lose her balance. Scrambling to sink her claws into the rough bark again, Silverpaw only slipped further and finally fell off the log. As soon as her mind registered panic, she felt herself lose conciousness.

oOo

Silverpaw groaned, rolling over onto her other side. She coughed out a mouthful of water onto the sand underneath her. _Why am I on the bank of the lake? How did I get here?_

"She's awake!" a cat yowled. The sound of more pawsteps approaching alerted Silverpaw. She tried to sit up, but her limbs felt too weary and she flopped back down again. _Ugh, it feels like I've been hit by a monster . . . and a very wet monster at that. _

"What happened?" a new arrival asked worriedly, peering down at her. Silverpaw blinked a few times to focus in on the face. _Flamepaw. _Two more cats came into view; Cinderheart and Lionblaze. _Hmm. I haven't been talking to my parents since I became an apprentice, _Silverpaw realised guiltily.

"Hey," she croaked out, smiling half-heartedly. It ended up being a crooked smirk, but Cinderheart smiled back all the same.

"Are you feeling okay?" the gray warrior asked. "You're lucky that the waves weren't too strong today, or you'd have been swept into the middle of the lake."

"I'm fine Cinderheart," Silverpaw assured, standing up. Her legs still felt weak, but she was determined to make it back home as soon as possible. _What happened before I got here? _Silverpaw frowned in thought, trying to remember how she got onto the bank. _I was getting off the island . . . and I slipped . . . because a voice startled me! What was that? _Cinderheart laid a tail across her daughter's shoulders and guided her away from shore.

_The voice said that Snowpaw should die! I remember now. But . . . I don't want that . . . I don't want to hurt anyone . . ._

_We should prepare for the battle. Snowpaw should not be underestimated, but we can beat her easily if we train and sharpen our skills._

_What? Who is this? _Silverpaw thought, confused.

_You should know me by now. I had to save us from drowning just before, after all._

_Why am I conscious only now? I don't remember being in the water at all, but I'm still wet. _

_I have to take control when we are in danger._

_We? There is no 'we'. Only me. _

Listen to Storm . . . She helps us.

Silverpaw's chest tightened in panic. _Why are there two voices in my head? Who are you and why do you keep saying 'us'?_

My name is Clear!

_This is pointless. Snowpaw is a threat and has to be taken down. We need to prepare._

Oh. Storm is probably right. Maybe she should take over for now . . .

_No! _Silverpaw thought frantically. She felt her head start to throb, tempting her to let go. _I don't want to let Storm take over! Please! You'll only make things worse! _The pain increased, and Silverpaw had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying out. Her eyes started to water, and she struggled to keep the tears in. Silverpaw stepped away from her mother, shrugging off her tail. Her breathing sped up rapidly, and she gasped for breath. _No . . . _

oOo

When Silverpaw regained conciousness, she wasn't where she was before. It was still midnight, but she was now standing by the stream that marked the WindClan border. The moonlight rippled off of the swiftly flowing water, making it appear as though some of the bright StarClan warriors in the sky had chosen to reside in the stream. _Wait . . . Isn't this the spot where . . . ?_

_Yes. I have been out for the past three days, learning ThunderClan battle moves and strategies. This is the appointed time for you to face off against Snowpaw. She should be here soon. I will guide you during battle._

_Oh wow, _Silverpaw thought sarcastically. _Thanks for robbing me of my three days of preparation and then giving me the honour of battle. _

_You're welcome. Since you are the cat that your Clan knows, I hold true to the ideal that you should experience the most memories._

Silverpaw sighed to herself. _This is weird, it's like I'm talking to myself. Where's that other voice thing? _

_Clear will not appear unless called. She prefers not to interact with the active personality unless giving advice._

_Good to know that _you_ don't mind intruding my thoughts. Why have you only started speaking to me now? How long have you . . . existed? _

_My first memory was very faint. I think that I was in a battle with that rouge group. I watched you in one battle first before the next time where I took over. It seemed like the first time you felt like you needed to kill that rouge but didn't want to experience the pain of knowing that you've killed a cat. The second time there were two cats, and so I stepped in._

Silverpaw blinked in shock, then frowned to herself. _Storm, it's against the warrior code to kill. _

_Not really. According to the story that I heard from Sandstorm, this 'code' says that 'an honourable cat does not kill to win battles unless his opponent is outside the code or if it is nessacary for self-defense'. I am not an honourable cat, and the rouges are outside of the code anyway._

_. . . I think it's something along those lines. I still don't want blood on my paws._

_Fine, I'll clean up next time. Happy?_

_Honestly, no. But that's better, I suppose. _

_Wait, someone is coming. Be prepared for battle._

Silverpaw whirled around to see a cat emerging from the undergrowth, her white pelt glowing eerily in the moonlight. Snowpaw smirked and held her head high.

"So you decided to come?" she mockingly asked, striding forward to stand nose-to-nose with Silverpaw. The silver apprentice decided not to answer, instead settling into a fighting stance.

Snowpaw's eyes lit up eagerly as she took a few steps backward and also got ready for battle. The crazed light in her eyes was enough to send a small shiver down Silverpaw's spine. It reminded her too much of what she imagined a fox about to finish off its prey would look like.

"Are you ready, Storm?" Snowpaw asked slyly.

"Stop stalling," Silverpaw snapped, knowing that her fellow apprentice was only trying to make her nervous. "Are _you_ ready?" As an afterthought, she added, "And my name isn't Storm, it's Silverpaw. I'm a Clan cat through and through."

"We'll see about that," Snowpaw returned. "Your 'Clan honour' might be a bit fragile after I'm done shredding your sorry pelt."

"Enough talk," Silverpaw commanded, resolutely deciding not to entertain Snowpaw's pointless banter any longer. "Let's fight."

"On the count of three?" the white apprentice suggested, her lips curving into a broad smile.

Silverpaw growled, growing frustrated with Snowpaw. In response, the silver she-cat leapt at her opponent, claws outstretched.

_You absolute mousebrain. She's trying to wind you up._

Storm's voice was enough to make her falter and land right in front of Snowpaw instead of on her back.

_Put your paw on her face._

_What? _Silverpaw thought, almost about to purr as she ducked under an angry swipe from Snowpaw. _That's mousebrained. _

_Just do it._

Silverpaw took a deep breath and did as Storm suggested, shoving her paw as hard as she could into Snowpaw's face. The white she-cat was stunned and staggered back a few steps.

_Slash across the muzzle._

Silverpaw followed the prompt, feeling half-way between sick and triumphant as she felt flesh tear in the wake of her claws. Snowpaw let out a shrill shriek which made Silverpaw momentarily freeze.

_Don't stop, now pin her down before she can get back up._

Silverpaw smirked to herself as she pinned down her opponent's paws. _This is too easy. Why was she boasting so much? _

_Some cats are just idiots. She seems delusional._

Silverpaw nodded thoughtfully, considering this. When the cat in her grip started wriggling, her attention was dragged back to the situation at paw.

"Tell me everything you know," Silverpaw commanded.

**So, if it isn't evident already I'm attempting to make a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder (or MPD, for people who know it as that). I know that cats cannot have this in real life, and that I don't know how it actually feels to have this disorder even though I've done research. I'm including this because I think that it is unrealistic that cats (who in this universe seem to have human emotions and problems) can live in such a violent world and that none of them end up being scarred or having mental health problems after battles. Weird, but it makes for an interesting plot (in my opinion). If you have experienced this before, I welcome any tips on how to make Silverpaw more realistic. **


	21. Chapter twenty

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed this story so far, you guys are awesome!**

Flamepaw grinned as he watched his sister defeat the BloodClan apprentice with ease.

_Nice moves, Silverpaw. I might have to use some of them next time I'm in battle. _

The orange tom was hiding in a small thicket, having had to choose the bush with the most leaves possible to cover his bright pelt. Silverpaw was pinning down Snowpaw, and Flamepaw was close enough to see the two she-cats' facial expressions. They seemed too occupied with their battle to notice him spying on them - no, watching in case of emergency. Luckily for him, the two apprentices were also quite loud, loud enough for him to follow their banter.

"Tell me what you know," Silverpaw demanded.

Snowpaw raised an eyebrow, lips curving up into a sly smile. "And why should I betray my Clan?"

"We had a deal!" Silverpaw snarled, eyes darkening.

"Did we?" Snowpaw asked innocently. _She seems very calm for a cat who has an enemy warrior at her throat._

"Yes!" the silver she-cat replied, evidently getting agitated. "You said that whoever loses has to acknowledge that the other is better."

"Oh, I did," Snowpaw sighed, making Silverpaw perk up slightly. "That doesn't mean that I have to give you information though." Silverpaw scowled again.

"I don't think you're in a position to be refusing to talk," the ThunderClan apprentice threatened. When Snowpaw shrugged, Silverpaw retaliated by holding a paw up in the air with one claw unsheathed. She roughly pressed her paw against Snowpaw's forehead, growling menacingly. Although she hadn't drawn blood, a flicker of panic painted Snowpaw's features for a second before she schooled her expression.

"Tell me what BloodClan is planning," Silverpaw repeated. Snowpaw met her gaze levelly, not making any move to talk. After a few seconds of waiting, Silverpaw snarled and sliced her claw across Snowpaw's forehead. The BloodClan apprentice's eyes flooded with pain, and as Silverpaw moved her paw back to pin Snowpaw's other shoulder down again Flamepaw was shocked to see a bleeding cut above the white she-cat's right eye. A trickle of blood ran down into her eye and Snowpaw winced. Against her white fur, the dark red stood out like a twoleg pelt in the forest.

Despite the cut, Snowpaw still didn't make a sound. Silverpaw, whose face was contorted with rage, let out a small yowl of frustration. As quick as a flash, she moved her left paw to slice downwards. Her claws caught the tip of Snowpaw's ear, as well as giving her a wound on her cheek. Snowpaw gave a shriek when Silverpaw moved to strike again.

"Okay, I'll talk!" the bleeding she-cat exclaimed, trying to bring a paw up to protect her muzzle. She warily watched as Silverpaw brought her paw back down.

"Fast," the ThunderClan she-cat ordered.

"We're not giving the hostages back," Snowpaw hastily started. "At the start of the second moon of leafbare we're splitting up into four groups to attack. Because we're taking a portion of everyone's prey during a prey-scarce time, it will be easier to defeat everyone."

"I know," Silverpaw deadpanned. Snowpaw narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but the silver apprentice ignored her. "Where are you keeping the hostages?"

"I don't know," Snowpaw answered, giving a small shrug. _Yeah, as if. She's the leader's daughter for StarClan's sake! _When Silverpaw raised a paw again in a silent threat, Snowpaw defensively repeated, "I actually don't know! Froststar has been very secretive about the details of the plan. Only the senior warriors get to know exactly what's going on."

"Well, I suppose you'd better befriend one of them then," Silverpaw suggested with a note of warning in her voice. "You have a half-moon to figure out where the hostages are being kept and when they're being transported."

Snowpaw nodded dully, and Silverpaw let her up. Roughly pushing the white she-cat away, Silverpaw watched her leave. Flamepaw felt a prick of fear at her cold expression, wondering what had happened to the sister he used to know. As she passed by the place where he was hiding, Flamepaw decided to confront her. Wriggling out of the thick bush, he stood face-to-face with his sister. Silverpaw's eyes were still burning bright with rage, making him hesitate slightly before speaking.

"What was that?" he asked.

Silverpaw whirled around in surprise, fur bristling. "Did you follow me?" she returned incredulously.

Flamepaw twitched his ear before replying, "Yes. You've been acting weird for the past couple of days. Also, I wanted to hear what Snowpaw had to say."

At this, Silverpaw seemed to calm down slightly, although he could tell that she was still mad at him. "Acting weird," she muttered to herself. After a few seconds she rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking as though she had just remembered something stupid that someone had done. Flamepaw stared at her, thoroughly puzzled when she started angling her ears toward a sound that he couldn't hear.

"What's going on with you?" he inquired carefully. "For the past few days, all you've cared about is training. Not too long before then, you ran away from a training session and came back brooding." When she didn't reply, Flamepaw sighed. "For StarClan's sake, Silverpaw, you haven't even been talking to anyone for the past few days. Not me, not Emberpaw, not anyone! It's as if you've suddenly turned into another cat." Even though he knew that wasn't possible, Flamepaw was half-convinced that a cold-hearted cat who looked just like his sister was slowly taking Silverpaw's place.

Instead of the expected apology or half-hearted and vague excuse for her behaviour, Silverpaw purred amusedly. The way that she purred, as if he was a kit and was asking an ironic or obvious question, made Flamepaw wary. _What is going on with her? _

"You don't understand," she said dismissively.

"Why not?" Flamepaw demanded. "I've been through exactly the same things as you have. We've been apprentices together for over a moon now, we've been in our first battle together, the only thing that separates us is our training."

Silverpaw purred again in that unnerving way. "Have you killed a cat?"

Flamepaw froze, his blood running cold. "No."

" . . . Then you don't understand," she meowed simply again.

"Have _you_ killed a cat?" Flamepaw asked tentatively. He didn't want to think of the obvious, but considering the battle that had just happened and the way in which she had asked him the same question . . .

"Yes," Silverpaw answered. Flamepaw started to back away slowly, scared by the amused and yet wistful light in Silverpaw's ice blue eyes. "And no."

Flamepaw blinked and stopped, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You wouldn't understand," Silverpaw shrugged, "because you haven't killed a cat before."

Growing annoyed now, Flamepaw growled, "You aren't making any sense! Just tell me what's going on!"

Silverpaw sighed, ears twitching again. She seemed to decide something within herself, and then started to leave. Flamepaw yelled out for her to stop, but she paid him no mind. _What's going on with her? _he thought frustratedly. _I want to 'understand', but she won't let me! _He shook his head, turning to walk away in the opposite direction of his sister. When he reached the WindClan border, he sat by the stream and watched the water rush by.

Flamepaw didn't know how long he sat like that, but eventually a whisper sounded from WindClan territory.

"Flamepaw," the cat hissed. The orange tom sat up straight, angling his ears toward the voice. It sounded familiar. "Flamepaw, you mousebrain! Get your stinking ThunderClan pelt over here and explain what in StarClan's name just happened there."

Flamepaw was about to give back a snide reply when the cat stepped put from behind a large clump of rocks. The black tom's expression was one of his usual distaste, and from behind him a gray she-cat emerged. _Of course the WindClan apprentices couldn't keep away, _Flamepaw thought wryly. _I came. Too bad that no-one else has access to this strip of territory, or we'd be able to have a meeting. _

Nodding in greeting to Crouchpaw and Larkpaw, Flamepaw moved closer to the edge of the stream. Dipping one paw delicately in the water, he considered swimming across. He quickly realised that it probably wasn't worth having a wet pelt and his scent on the other side of the border. Besides, he could still hear the WindClan apprentices from where he was. A small splash in the stream made Flamepaw startle, and he looked down to see two drenched heads emerge from the water. _Heronpaw and Curlpaw swam here? Wow, I suppose everyone really did want to see what would happen. _

The two brown cats paddled over to Flamepaw so that they were in a shallow enough part to stand up. The RiverClan apprentices didn't leave the water, but at least they weren't submerged anymore. Flamepaw couldn't understand how they could have stayed in the stream for so long and not have been seen, but ended up chalking it down to 'because they're RiverClan'. Finally getting a good look at them, he shivered at the sight of their fur, which was dark with water, clinging tightly to their frames.

"Ay, Thundercat," Curlpaw greeted, giving a nod to the cats on both sides of the stream. "Where'd yer sister go? She won the fight, yeah?"

Flamepaw nodded. "Silverpaw went back to camp." He left out what she had said to him earlier, hoping that no-one else had heard. "Snowpaw ran off back to her territory."

"What happened there?" Larkpaw asked, her forehead creased with worry. "Silverpaw's voice kind of scared me. And what was that about her threatening Snowpaw?"

Flamepaw hesitated before answering truthfully, "I don't know." He chuckled slightly, remembering his previous conversation. "I don't understand."

"What?" Crouchpaw asked blankly.

"She won't tell me what's going on with her," Flamepaw sighed. "I don't know if she doesn't trust me, or if she just doesn't want to tell me, but I really don't know. She's a lot different now compared to who she was a moon ago." He paused, thinking about Silverpaw's previous easy-going nature. "I . . . just wish I knew why."

"Al'ight then," Curlpaw meowed decisively. "Tell Silverpaw she hasta get down to the lake at moon'igh tomorrow. I'm gonna get the truth outta her for ya, okay? You're gonna hafta help us break out some cats soon, and if she's getting ya this down, you'll be about as useful as a trout who can't swim. Silverpaw's secret isn't gonna be secret for much longa. I'll promise ya that."

Flamepaw gave the RiverClan she-cat a grateful smile. _Maybe she can succeed where I've failed. Silverpaw shouldn't have to feel like we can't help her._


	22. Chapter twenty one

_He doesn't understand. _

Silverpaw shook her head once again, muttering the sentence under her breath again. She was currently avoiding returning to camp, instead choosing to wander aimlessly through the dark forest. _How could I be so stupid to think that he understands me? Actually, he's pretty close to the truth, although he doesn't know it. He told me that I have been acting weirdly for the past couple of days, which reminds me . . . Storm, you need to act more in character._

_Why is it nessacary for me to act like you when I am obviously not?_

Silverpaw sighed. _Cats are getting suspicious. You heard Flamepaw before. I normally _talk_ to my Clanmates. _The apprentice hesitated. _Or, at least, I did . . . before . . . _

_Who would you like to speak to, to avoid this suspicion?_

Silverpaw thought for a moment, mentally cycling through her Clanmates in her mind. _Not my parents, not Jayfeather, not Emberpaw, definitely not Flamepaw . . . _

_What about the cat who showed me ThunderClan's battle moves? She knows who I am._

For a heartbeat, Silverpaw didn't know who Storm was talking about. Then, she remembered the day when she had run away from battle training.

oOo

_Having stopped to lean against a tree and catch her breath, Silverpaw panted heavily. Her brain felt like it was a jumbled mess, and she was still trying to repress the unusual feeling of rage that kept threatening to overtake her. Taking slow, deep breaths, Silverpaw started to calm herself down. Until, that was, a sudden voice set her on edge again._

_"Silverpaw, what was that?" Ivypool demanded, coming out of the undergrowth to stand in front of her apprentice. "I've never taught you to run away from a training session."_

_"I-I had to," Silverpaw stuttered, feeling overwhelmed by exhaustion and slight fear at the sight of the intimidating warrior before her. _

_"Why?"_

oOo

_Ivypool. But I've never told her exactly what's going on because I didn't know then. I just thought that I kept getting out of control for no reason, _Silverpaw thought confusedly.

_I told her. I had to, because otherwise she wouldn't understand her apprentice suddenly wanting to learn basic fighting moves again and then more advanced moves. She will understand if you want to talk to her. The only thing that she doesn't know about is Clear._

Silverpaw nodded, although she knew that it was a pointless motion when the cat she was speaking to was technically herself. _Alright, I'll go find her. _

Quickly finding her location, Silverpaw made a bee-line to camp. Mousewhisker was standing guard outside the entrance, but he didn't question her when she entered the camp. Ignoring the fact that it was only a few hours past moonhigh, Silverpaw walked straight into the warriors' den. Scanning the den for a silver pelt, she soon found her mentor sleeping near the edge of one of the walls. Silverpaw nimbly made her way over to Ivypool, making sure not to step on any stray tails. She jabbed the silver and white warrior in the side with one paw, and Ivypool groaned slightly before opening one eye a crack.

"Storm?" she whispered tiredly. "Why do you want to train at moonhigh?"

Silverpaw shook her head, replying, "Not Storm anymore. I want to talk." Ivypool eyed her slightly, before sighing and heaving herself out of her nest. The warrior led the way out of the den, and sat down near the middle of the camp.

"I'm not moving any further," she grunted.

Silverpaw nodded, curling her tail over her paws. "Okay."

"What did you want to talk about?" Ivypool asked.

"Storm needs to know how to act more like me when she's out," Silverpaw replied.

_No. That was not the plan._

_Deal with it._

Ivypool twitched an ear. "Alright," she conceded. "Can you get her to come out?"

_No._

Silverpaw furrowed her eyebrows in concentration, trying to mentally force Storm out. She had no idea how to do it, but she hoped that thinking about it would work.

_I pity your humorous attempts._

_Why don't you just come out then? _Silverpaw thought exasperatedly.

_The warrior's comically curious and wondered expression at your frivolous pokes are amusing me._

Silverpaw was at a loss of words, before scowling to herself and thinking, _Lose the big words, you piece of foxdung. _

_. . . I may as well just come out._

This time, when Silverpaw felt the pull of darkness, she didn't resist. She found that the process was surprisingly painless when you actually want to go.

oOo

{Storm's POV}

Storm sighed, staring blankly at the silver she-cat in front of her.

"I'm out. What do you want?" she asked, letting a note of annoyance creep into her tone. _'Act more like Silver'. Like that's ever going to happen._

The warrior - Ivypelt, or something - was still staring at her with that same stupid expression. Storm sighed again, flicking her tail agitatedly.

"Oh, uh, I." Ivyfur coughed once before composing herself again. "First thing about Silverpaw. She has different speech. And a different attitude."

" . . . And I should care why?" Storm asked pointedly.

Now, Ivyfall's expression morphed into one of pure annoyance. She glared at Storm, but the silver apprentice didn't react. The warrior wasn't intimidating. "The Clan knows Silverpaw. I know that some cats have already noticed the change. If you want to keep this a secret, then you need to learn."

"I suppose," Storm agreed reluctantly. Trying to remember her conversations with Silver, she tried adding more slang to her speech. "How's this?"

Ivyfern looked indecisive for a moment before giving a short nod. "It's okay. Let's do a roleplay. I'm Squirrelflight." The warrior straightened up and schooled her features, commanding, "Silverpaw, I want you on Hazeltail's hunting patrol." _What is Squirrelflight? The warrior's tone resembles that ginger cat I saw in camp the other day . . . Maybe that is a Squirrelflight. So this is supposed to be her telling me to hunt with a cat called Hazeltail? I think that I know her from somewhere . . . _

Storm raised an eyebrow. "I vaguely remember this Hazeltail as being an annoyance."

Ivyleaf sighed, exasperatedly explaining, "Yes. That's why you need to practice showing respect to the warriors in your Clan. Squirrelflight is the deputy, so that means that you need to show even more respect. She gave you an order, so you reply with . . . "

"Why?"

Ivyleap glared at Storm. Blinking, Storm suddenly realised that she had not properly explained herself.

"I meant why would this Squirrelflight want me to spend time with a cat I dislike?" she clarified.

"It doesn't matter," the warrior stressed. "The deputy gave you an order. You don't ask questions. You just say 'okay' and dip your head to her. Then you go."

"That seems like a mousebrained way to do things," Storm stated. "What if the Squirrelflight 'ordered' me to jump off a cliff? Am I supposed to kill myself?"

Ivypond flicked her tail agitatedly, pointedly turning her back on Storm. "I give up."


	23. Time Skip

**Anyone who's been reading this knows what's been going on, but I'm going to quickly usm,arise what would have happened here.**

**Tensions builds as Frost and the new BloodClan make raids on the Clans. Meanwhile, the eight apprentices train in their fighting and stealthy ninja skills so that they can play an important part in the final showdown. All four Clans band together to attack the BloodClan camp, and while the chaos starts the apprentices free the hostages and fight their way out of the battlezone. Thinking back on it, someone probably would have made a Heroic Sacrifice, most likely Mistpaw or Heronpaw. Those two would also have had a developing relationship, although it would have been a very minor subplot. The remaining seven would have leapt back into battle, with Silverpaw letting Storm take over and unleashing mad skills. **

**Through it all, Silverpaw angsts, Flamepaw tries to keep up with what is going on, and Emberpaw is a useless airhead. **

**If this sounds like an extremely clichè and generic story, then congratulations. **

**This was my first story, okay? It is pretty bad, plotwise, but I'm still proud that I've written this much. **


	24. Final chapter

Flamepaw breathed a sigh of relief as the last BloodClan cat was sent home. _It's over. _Medicine cats from all four Clans were moving around the battle zone, tending to the cats whose wounds needed urgent attention. As the adrenaline slowly faded, Flamepaw started to feel the stinging bite of his own wounds. Checking himself over, he saw many scratches along his flank. None looked too deep, although there was one on his stomach which he suspected needed herbs quickly.

As he looked around for a medicine cat, a silver cat who was leaving by herself caught his attention. _Silverpaw, what are you doing? _he thought. The orange tom trotted after his sister, wincing at the pain of his wounds. He gasped when some dirt suddenly got into his front paw. Holding it up, he grimaced when he noticed a missing claw. Flamepaw tentatively licked his paw clean, so that the dirt wouldn't infect his paw.

Now hobbling on three paws, Flamepaw continued after Silverpaw. She had stopped behind a clump of ferns, and was staring intently at something ahead of her. Her ears were pricked up, and her tail wavered slightly. _Is she _hunting_, at a time like this? Hmm . . . _Trying his best not to make any noise, Flamepaw limped until he was just behind Silverpaw. The silver she-cat jerked her head in a 'come here' motion, still not tearing her gaze from whatever she was looking at.

Flamepaw obeyed, settling down awkwardly beside her. He shifted into a position which favoured his injured paw, before following Silverpaw's stare. _Oh. _Bramblestar, Rowanclaw, Onestar and Mistystar were all huddled together under an oak tree. Flamepaw angled his ears to hear what they were saying.

"I agree," Mistystar meowed. "They have shown their worth many times over. Should we announce it now?"

"Hang on," Rowanclaw interrupted. "What about me? Do you think StarClan will allow me to perform a ceremony like this when I have not gotten my nine lives?" _I hope this ceremony is a good one. _

_"_What are they talking about?" Flamepaw whispered to Silverpaw. She turned to look at him with a quietening stare.

"Our warrior ceremony," she whispered, promptly turning her attention back to the leaders. _Oh. Okay. Wow. I'm not sure I'm ready to be a warrior yet . . . Wait, then why is Rowanstar asking if he can perform the ceremony? _

"I'm sure it will be fine," Bramblestar reassured. "Leaders have made their apprentices warriors without their lives before. You're ShadowClan's leader now. Also," he continued, now adressing the other leaders as well, "we have to decide if we want one big ceremony at once, with each leader giving their apprentices their names, or if we want four shorter ceremonies." _Ah, I see. All apprentices must be getting their warrior names. _

Mistystar looked doubtful. "Eight ceremeonies at once is a bit much."

Rowanclaw nodded. "I think that it would be better if each Clan performed their ceremonies seperately."

Bramblestar gave a small nod of agreement, and turned to leave. Flamepaw gave a panicked look at Silverpaw, only to see that she was standing up. She moved to intercept the brown tabby leader, and Flamepaw shook his head furiously. _What are you doing? We're going to get caught! _he yelled at her in his head. Bramblestar stopped when the silver she-cat appeared in front of him, looking unsurprised to see her. Flamepaw tasted the air, embarrassedly realising that they were upwind of the leaders. _Heh, whoops._

"What's wrong, Silverpaw?" Bramblestar asked.

"I would like to request my warrior name, if you would let me," Silverpaw answered respectfully. _What name could be so important that she would ask the leader for it? _

Bramblestar considered this for a moment. "What name do you want? I'm not saying that I'll give it to you for sure, but you have served our Clan well."

Silverpaw didn't hesitate to give her reply. "Silverstorm." _Silverstorm. I think it fits her. But . . ._

The ThunderClan leader nodded thoughtfully and meowed, "I'll think about it."

Silverpaw nodded and returned to Flamepaw's side. The other leaders filed past, and once they were alone Flamepaw turned to his sister. She set her jaw firmly, and the orange tom was slightly unnerved by the determined glint that was in her eyes.

"Is Silverstorm because of . . . Uh . . ." he trailed off, not sure how to ask. He didn't think that she would name herself after her alternate personality, but the question still burned in his mind.

Silverpaw nodded. "Storm is a part of me. I am Storm. But I am also Silver. I know how Storm came to exist now, and I have accepted her. My name would represent one of my other sides, and also . . . it sounds cool," she admitted, shrugging.

Flamepaw nodded half-heartedly. He wasn't sure that he agreed with her decision, but he didn't want to seem discouraging.

"Anyway, we should get back," Silverpaw meowed, starting to leave. Flamepaw had to break into a trot to keep up with her fast walk, ruefully reminded of falling behind in running games when they were kits. _Back then my sister wasn't a murderer. _

When the siblings entered the area that the other cats had congregated at, Flamepaw was relieved to see that it didn't look like a meeting has started yet. Silverpaw steered them over toward the other apprentices, who were lying underbeath a beech tree.

"Hey guys!" Larkpaw greeted, waving her tail. Crouchpaw gave a grunt of acknowledgement and rolled over so that he could face them. Heronpaw and Curlpaw gave curt nods, while Stoatpaw gave a wink. Flamepaw noticed that Mistpaw had chosen to forsake her Clanmate's side to sit next to Heronpaw. _I'm glad she's warming up to us, _he thought_._

"Are you guys ready to become warriors?" Silverpaw off-handedly asked, striding over to sit with the RiverClan cats.

Curlpaw shrugged, replying, "I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I wouldn't be expectin' ma ceremony anytime soon, though. Might start thinkin' 'bout it in a moon or two."

"I think it would be exciting!" Larkpaw exclaimed, tail waving in excitement.

"I wonder what my name would be," Mistpaw mused.

Heronpaw's eyes softened and Flamepaw strained his ears to hear him murmur to himself, "Something beautiful."

Before Flamepaw could interject and reveal that their ceremonies were actually happening soon, a loud yowl caught everyone's attention.

"Let every cat who is part of a Clan gather under this tree!" called Blackstar. The four leaders were all seated in the branches of a large tree, similar to how they sat at a Gathering. Cats looked at each other in confusion, but quickly made their way to the tree. Silverpaw had a knowing smile on her face as the apprentices walked over to the meeting together, on the way finding Emberpaw, Sparrowpaw and Podpaw. Even Silverpaw looked worried at how bloody Emberpaw's pelt was, but he insisted that he wasn't hurt badly.

"Cats of all Clans," Bramblestar started once everyone was settled. "Today we have won a great victory. United, we were able to defeat BloodClan once again and send them back where they belong. Everyone fought bravely, and we will remember the lives that have been lost, but now it is time to recognise eight cats. Two apprentices from each Clan went ahead of us and freed BloodClan's hostages. Without their courage and skill, our enemies would have had the opportunity to retreat and kill our cats.

These cats are; Heronpaw and Curlpaw from RiverClan, Stoatpaw and Mistpaw from ShadowClan, Larkpaw and Crouchpaw from WindClan, and Silverpaw and Flamepaw from ThunderClan. For what they have done today, we are now going to make them all warriors." _Here we go, _Flamepaw thought. _We're finally going to be warriors. _

Sitting back down, Bramblestar nodded to Onestar. The brown tabby nodded back and started to speak.

"Larkpaw, Crouchpaw, come forward." The two WindClan apprentices moved in unison through the crowd towards the tree, coming to a stop a fox-length away from the roots. Onestar jumped down to meet them and continued, "I, Onestar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Larkpaw, Crouchpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!" Larkpaw meowed, eyes shining happily.

"I do," Crouchpaw nodded solemnly.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give your your warrior names, " the brown tom announced proudly. "Larkpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Larkwing. StarClan honours your enthusiasm and spirit, and we welcome you as a full WindClan warrior." Onestar rested his chin on Larkwing's head, and she licked his shoulder in return. Then the WindClan leader straightened up and turned to Crouchpaw. "Crouchpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Crouchfoot. StarClan honours your focus and skill, and we welcome you into WindClan as a full warrior." As Onestar rested his chin on Crouchfoot's head, the Clans chanted the new WindClan warriors' names.

As Mistystar took over, the ceremonies continued. Heronpaw and Curlpaw became Heronmask and Curlfeather, and then Stoatpaw and Mistpaw became Stoatfur and Mistcloud. Finally, Bramblestar called for Flamepaw and Silverpaw. They weaved throught the crowd to get to the tree, where their leader was already waiting.

"I, Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Silverpaw, Flamepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Flamepaw looked sideways at Silverpaw, hoping to catch her eye, but she was focused on Bramblestar. He sighed, wondering how they had drifted so far apart. As kits, they had been inseperable. _Nevermind. She's walking her own path now. _

"I do," Silverpaw said, her voice ringing clear into the evening air.

"I do," Flamepaw echoed.

Bramblestar nodded and meowed, "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give your your warrior names. Silverpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Silverstorm. StarClan honours your strength and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Bramblestar rested his chin on Silverstorm's head, and she returned a lick to his shoulder. When she sat back up, Flamepaw noted how much she looked like a warrior. Shoulders back, head up, muscles rippling under her pelt, Silverstorm was now quite an intimidating figure.

Flamepaw forced his attention back to his leader, who was ready to announce _his_ name. "Flamepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Flamepelt." Flamepelt smiled wryly. A rather ordinary name, but somehow it fit him just as well as his sister's name fit her. _I suppose I'm not much of a Flameclaw after all, am I? _"StarClan honours your intelligence and quick-thinking, and we welcome you as a full ThunderClan warrior." As soon as Flamepelt felt the slight pressure of Bramblestar's head on his own, he rasped his tongue over his leader's shoulder in thanks. Sitting back up, cats started to cheer the new warriors' names.

"Silverstorm! Flamepelt! Silverstorm! Flamepelt!"

Flamepelt looked around to see if he could spot Cinderheart or Lionblaze, relieved when they appeared in front of him.

"Congratulations, my warriors!" Cinderheart purred, licking Flamepelt's ear. He twitched it embarrassedly, turning to his father instead.

"Well done," Lionblaze meowed proudly. "Seeing you help save Clans reminds me of when I was a young cat. Of course . . . then I was invincible . . . " he trailed off, eyes clouding. Cinderheart nuzzled his shoulder, her expression showing her concern.

"That's behind us now," she murmured.

Lionblaze nodded reluctantly, regaining his usual cheer. "We should get back to the camp now. It's getting dark, and you two have a vigil to sit."

_Oh yeah, _Flamepelt thought. _I'm a warrior now._

oOo

. . .

. . .

. . .

Poke.

Flamepelt jolted up with a small yelp, looking around wildly. Silverstorm watched him with an amused look on her face. She jerked her head at him, then mimed falling asleep. _Oh, whoops. Vigil, _he remembered._ Yes. I almost fell asleep. Again. No-one ever told me how hard it would be to stay awake! _

The orange warrior shifted his position so that he was back to sitting, curling his tail around his paws to keep them warm. _Or how cold it is to have a vigil during leafbare. Luckily it hasn't snowed for a few days, so I suppose it could be worse. _Flamepelt resigned himself to waiting for sunrise to appear once more, glancing up at the sky to see how late it was. _Not even moonhigh yet. But it's getting close-ish. _

Silverstorm was hunched over, fur fluffed out to keep herself warm. Her gaze was kept firmly on the camp entrance, which was a few fox-lengths away. Flamepelt himself had instinctively fluffed out his own fur, but let his attention wander to other areas of the camp. _This is going to be a looong night. _

After awhile, Flamepelt's brain started feeling numb. _Is this even healthy? Jayfeather's going to have a lot more on his paws in the morning than re-dressing my wounds if this continues. _The orange warrior sighed, watching his breath billow out into the night. His eyelids felt heavy, and his limbs were still weary from battle. Shaking his head to keep himself awake, Flamepelt fought sleep for the next few hours.

Just as he was about to let himself fall into the welcoming darkness, a loud yowl pierced his half-asleeep haze.

"Storm!" Silverstorm yelled, bolting into the warrior's den. Flamepelt jolted up and pelted after her. Inside, Ivypool was already awake. His sister's ex-mentor immediately held down one of Silverstorm's front paws, ordering other sleepy warriors to take care of her other paws. Flamepelt's eyes widened as he saw a previously limp and scared Silverstorm start thrashing about and snarling.

"Let go of me, fools!" she spat, trying to tug free one of her legs. Birchfall bristled, but held on tightly. Thornclaw and Berrynose were also helping to pin the she-cat down, both with confused looks on their faces.

"What's wrong with her?" Thornclaw demanded. Flamepelt shared a look with Ivypool, before she gave a small nod.

"Silverstorm has switched to her alternate personality," Ivypool explained. "Before, there was usually a trigger for it happening. When she got angry her brain would distance itself from all conscious activity, and that created a second 'her'. Now, though, I don't know what's going on. We just have to wait it out." _Wait, how does she know this? I thought Silverstorm only told the other six apprentices, _Flamepelt thought confusedly. _When did she . . . _

Suddenly, he remembered when Emberpaw had told him about Silverstorm running away during training. Afterwards, he had tried to speak to Ivypool.

[Flashback]

_"What's wrong with Silverpaw?" he demanded._

_"I know she's your sister, but I can't tell you right now," Ivypool answered. "Just give her a bit of space, and try not to press the issue or . . . upset her."_

[End]

_She's known that long?_ Flamepelt thought, hurt. _That was before I knew! I thought we were supposed to be siblings. Maybe we weren't as close before as I thought._

"I need to get back out there!" Silverstorm - no, Storm - yowled. A wild look consumed her eyes, making her unrecognisable as his sister. "It's not safe if BloodClan cats are still here!"

By now almost the whole Clan was awake. The warrior's den was bustling with cats, although Ivypool soon sent them all outside. Flamepelt stared in shock at his sister as she kept yowling to be let go. _What's happening to her? _Suddenly, a fluffy tail was draped across his back. The cat guided him gently over to an empty nest at the edge of the den, one of two. Flamepelt curled up in the nearest one, mumbling his thanks to the cat who had helped him.

"Goodnight," the cat said, turning to leave. Flamepelt barely registered the voice as his mother's before he started to fall alseep. _I'm so confused . . ._

oOo

Flamepelt was woken by a rustling noise in the nest next to his. Prying one eye open, he was surprised to see Silverstorm. He widened his eyes fully and tensed, not sure if she would attack him.

"What's going on?" she quietly asked him, leaning close. Involuntarily, Flamepelt jerked backwards.

"Are you . . normal, now?" he returned hesitantly.

"Normal?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. "I am normal." Flamepelt suddenly noticed that Silverstorm's voice sounded significantly . . . younger than it usually did. Her voice was breezy and light, similar to a kit's. It reminded him of how she sounded when they first became apprentices.

"By the way," Silverstorm continued, "Why are we in the warrior's den now?"

Flamepelt stared at her, shocked. _Does she not remember anything that happened last night?_

"Because we're warriors now," he meowed carefully, watching for her reaction.

Silverstorm angled her ears, as if listening for something. "Silver says that you should call me Clear for now. What's your name?" Clear focused her attention on Flamepelt again.

_Is this . . . A third personality? Clear? I assume Silver would be Silverstorm, in that case. "_Flamepelt," he answered, looking around for any cats who were awake. "Clear, maybe we should go outside of the camp to talk. Follow me." Clear nodded and trotted after him when he picked his way out of the den. The two snuck out the entrance and Flamepelt made sure they were a fair distance from camp before stopping.

"Now," he started, turning to Clear, "Can you get Silverstorm to come out? I want to talk to her." Clear's eyes widened as she convulsed slightly.

"She want to come out now," Clear mewed, "but I don't want to - to - no!" she whimpered. "I've been inside for so long and I need to - " Clear cut herself off as she jerked one more time before settling down.

"Flamepelt, it's me now," Silverstorm said, eyes shimmering worriedly. She started off through the bush, shaking her head. "I can't stay here. Storm is still on edge from the battle, and who knows if I'll be able to warn everyone next time?"

Flamepelt caught up with her, meowing, "It's okay." He laid his tail over her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. "It's not your fault. We can fix it-"

"Fix it?" Silverstorm yowled, whirling around. She trembled with rage as she glared menacingly at him. "You can't 'fix it'! Don't you think I've tried? You don't know what it's like to feel like you're not in control! Everyone is afraid of me now, because I. Have. Killed. Cats. You don't know anything about me anymore, Flamepelt!"

Her sharp words dragged a claw across his heart, and the orange warrior visibly flinched. _This isn't my sister anymore. _Even now, while she wasn't being controlled by Storm, her cold blue eyes still held the same shattered look.

"Have you ever suddenly come to, and seen torn bodies in front of you?" she demanded. "Have you? I'm a murderer._ I can't stay here_," she stressed. Silverstorm sighed deafeatedly, hanging her head. "I'm a monster. I have to leave, start over by myself. All of the battles . . and blood . . and violence . . I can't take it anymore. I want to be a rouge." She looked up at her brother, a silent question in her eyes. _Will you support me? _

Flamepelt avoided her gaze, throat contstricting painfully. _I can't let her go. She's my family. _"What about our parents?" he asked hoarsely. "Or Emberpaw? Or all of the cats in the Clans who admire you? Will you just abandon everyone when we're recovering from a battle?"

Without missing a beat, Silverstorm answered, "Yes. I have to. I will only hurt everyone more by staying." Her eyes misted with tears as she continued, "Maybe, when the storm has passed, I'll come back. If I ever become just Silver again, I'll come back to you."

"Silverstorm-" Flamepelt begged, but she cut him off.

"Call me Storm," his sister interrupted. "I never deserved a warrior name anyway." Storm turned away and walked off, leaving Flamepelt with a whirlwind of emotions and unanswered questions.

_As kits, we were best friends. As apprentices, we were allies. Now, as warriors, we live in two seperate worlds. But no matter what we are, or what she's done, one thing will never change between us. She's my sister. It's my duty to her to make sure that the Clans remember her as the hero she is. Even if you never end up knowing this, I promise you two things._

_First, the name Silverstorm will be revered among the Clans. Even though Storm feels like a curse to you, your alternate personality's strength is why a lot of cats are still alive. _

_Second, I will always be here if you come back. As your brother, your friend and your ally. I will never lose hope that I will see Silver again. Even in StarClan, I can still wait for you. Sister._


	25. Epilogue

Flamepelt yawned widely, stretching out luxuriously in his nest. He rolled over onto his side, head resting against the edge of his nest. Blinking his eyes open, he flinched in surprise when he was greeted by an orange tabby face right in front of his muzzle.

"What is it, Emberlight?" Flamepelt asked, slightly miffed. _Couldn't he have chosen a better day to wake me up early? I'm on a morning patrol soon. _

Emberlight's eyes sparkled with barely contained excitement as he exclaimed, "There's a rouge at the border! He refuses to leave and is asking for you!" _What? Why would a rouge be asking for me?_

"He?" the orange warrior cautiously double-checked. He perked up hopefully. _Maybe . . . Just maybe . . . _

To his dismay, Emberlight nodded. "Definitely a he." Flamepelt sighed, plopping back down into his nest.

"What do they want?" he grumbled.

"He won't say. You're the only one he'll talk to."

Flamepelt reluctantly heaved himself out of his nest, which was a lot warmer than it had been when Silverstorm had left now that it was closer to the middle of the den.

"I'll be back soon," he told Emberlight, nodding to him. Flamepelt quickly trotted out of camp, wanting to get this over with. Soon after he entered the forest, he frustratedly realised that Emberlight had neglected to tell him _which_ border the rouge was at. Taking an educated guess, the orange warrior decided to start at the border north of the camp: the border where the battle had taken place. Walking to the place where BloodClan had been driven off brought back painful memories, ones that Flamepelt tried his hardest to suppress.

Once he reached the scent markers, Flamepelt decided to use his nose to sniff out the rouge. Turning to the left, he walked a little while before finding a fresh scent trail. Within a few minutes, a black tabby tom came into view. He was waiting patiently at the border, still not in the territory but as close as he could get. As Flamepelt neared, amber eyes flickered to suddenly stare at him. The silent but intimidating pose that the black tom held impressed Flamepelt, but did not disconcert him. He had been around Silverstorm for too long to be scared by this rouge.

Experience helped too, but he preferred to think that Silverstorm had helped the most.

"I'm Flamepelt," he announced to the rouge, sitting down near him. "My Clanmates have said that you have been asking for me."

The black tabby nodded. "I have. But I need to know that you truly are who you claim to be. You fit the physical description of Flamepelt, although that means nothing unless you can prove that you are the brother of Storm." _Storm . . . He knows her? Does he know something about her? Has he come to tell me she's dead? _he panicked.

"What do you know about Storm?" he asked desperately. "Is she alive? Healthy? Happy?"

The rouge nodded curtly. "Storm is alive and well. She is happy with her new life. But before I tell you any more, I need to you to tell me something that only Flamepelt would know."

Flamepelt racked his mind for information. Everyone knew about Storm, about her pranks when she was younger, about her heroics in the battle with BloodClan. What was there except . . . ?

"The night she left!" Flampelt exclaimed triumphantly. "We were alone then. She woke up, not as herself but as another personality: Clear. This one didn't remember anything about killing cats or BloodClan. When we went outside, Silverstorm came back and told me that she was afraid of hurting cats. And right before she left, she told me that if she ever became just Silver again she would come back." Flamepelt took a deep breath, looking at the rouge hopefully. If that wasn't enough to convince him . . .

"She told me about that," the black tom said ruefully. He gave small laugh. "She talks about you a lot, actually. I would say that if she could trust herself, she would love to come back to her ThunderClan. You are Flamepelt. Now wait here." With that, he turned to grab something out of a nearby bush. Flamepelt couldn't see what it was, but he was now certain that it was a gift from Silverstorm.

When the rouge turned around again, he had something very surprising hanging from his jaws. Flamepelt blinked at the silver bundle that he held, unsure of what he was seeing.

It was a kit. A silver tabby, to be exact. It had a black nose, and one black front paw, but Flamepelt could only think of one cat when it opened its light blue eyes. _Silverstorm. _

"W-what?" he stammered, looking confusedly at the rouge. "How did this - does she have - what?"

The black tabby put the kit down and purred. "Yes. This is Storm's eldest kit."

"E-eldest? There's more?" Flamepelt asked.

"Her name is Silver, and she's four moons old," the rouge continued, ignoring Flamepelt's query. "Storm wanted her to have the normal warrior's life that she missed out on. Will you take care of her?"

Flamepelt nodded heartily, snapping out of his daze. _My niece. _Silver took a few clumsy steps toward him, looking up at him with wonder and excitement swimming together in her big blue eyes.

"Mama said that I can be a real Clan cat," she mewed. "And she said that you're her brother."

Flamepelt crouched down so that he was eye level with his sister's daughter. "Yes. I'm your uncle, Silver. Do you want to come live in ThunderClan with me? I'm sure you will be very welcome. A lot of cats there remember your mother, and you look just like her. You can even meet your grandparents."

Silver let out an excited gasp as she squealed, "Really? My grandparents?" She scrambled onto Flamepelt's head, then peered upside-down at him. "Take me there!"

The rouge smiled slightly, his eyes glistening sadly. "Flamepelt, don't worry about her too much. We decided when Storm was still pregnant that the firstborn kit would go to ThunderClan, and Silver has known that she'll leave us since she was born. Can you tell your leader that once every two moons we will wait at this spot to visit her?" Flamepelt nodded without hesitance. He was relieved that Silver had been raised with the knowledge that she would be given away. But one thing nagged at him still.

"Why do you keep saying 'us'?" he asked.

Before the rouge could reply, Silver interrupted. "Are we leaving now? I want to say goodbye to Father first." Flamepelt grunted when Silver clambered down his face and onto the ground, a stray paw nearly poking his eye out in the process. She launched herself onto the black rouge, whispering something into his ear. _Oh. But . . . So he's her father? _Flamepelt scrunitised the tom once more under this realisation. _Hmm, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Silverstorm always seemed to like the strong silent types. _

When Silver climbed back onto his head, Flamepelt stood up. The weight of a kit on his head made it hard to balance, and for a moment he was worried about Silver slipping off. The black tom waved a tail goodbye and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Flamepelt yelled. The tom paused, but didn't turn around. "What's your name?"

From over his shoulder, the rouge threw only one word at the duo. "Flash."

Flamepelt nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, Flash."

The black tom nodded curtly, before disappearing into the dark forest. Flamepelt watched him leave, eyes trained on the spot where he had last been visible even after he was gone. Tiny claws swatting his ear suddenly reminded him of the young cat on his head. Silver. Unbidden, his sister's words came to mind.

_'Maybe, when the storm has passed, I'll come back. If I ever become just Silver again, I'll come back to you.'_

Flamepelt smiled, almost shaking his head ruefully. _Silverstorm, you sure have a twisted sense of humour. You're wrong though. You deserve your warrior name. This is a start, but I'm still waiting. I'm glad to know that you haven't forgotten me. Come back one day._

**Well, that's it. I may end up writing another story including Silver in the (very distant) future, but for now this universe is laid to rest. I suppose if for some reason someone wants to fill in the missing chapters or something they're free to, but I can't do any more. I hope you enjoyed reading this, at least, and want to thank everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed. You guys are the reason I even got this far. So thank you, everyone who reads this, and I hope I can come back soon with another tale to tell soon.**


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